Life as We Know It
by Shiori07
Summary: Ever wonder what Kazuto's and Shino's lives would be like if they got married? Well so do they. And they're about to find out. And it's... it's kinda... yeah. Interesting. A slice-of-life, generally fluffy story. Co-written with Warrior 1311. Cover not ours. Chapter 1-The Proposal
1. The Proposal

Author's note: Hello and welcome to another Shinoto story! I know what you're thinking: "Why is this little shit posting yet _another_ story when she has so many other things to get done?" Well, this story isn't like the others, my dear readers. This is a collaboration between me and my awesome beta Warrior1311! This is the first collab piece for both of us and we're so excited! We'll definitely get this done in a timely manner. With due credit out of the way, please enjoy the ride.

Dislcaimer: We don't own SAO.

* * *

 **Chapter 1-The Proposal**

"Don't worry daddy, I know she'll say yes!" Yui's voice chirped into Kazuto's earpiece, her tinkling voice bright as she offered encouragement.

"Well, I sure hope so. Otherwise I just blew next month's budget on screwing up," he whispered back.

Currently, Kazuto was sitting by himself at a table for two in the upscale French café where it all began: where he was commissioned to look into the Gun Gale Online killings, where he met with Seijirou Kikuoka during his investigation, and where he and the girl he was waiting on were debriefed after the case was closed. It was also, he decided, going to be the place where he proposed to her. After a year of actually dating, he felt it was finally time for the two of them to take the next step together… He just hoped she felt the same way, or he was several hundred grand down the drain.

He looked down at the ring, the set piece glinting delicately back at him from its velvet box. It was simple yet elegant, just like her. It was strong, yet seemed gentle. When he saw the simple white-gold band, set with its small blue sapphires, he knew it was perfect for her, and when he showed Yui, she agreed wholeheartedly.

The girl was still a little upset about him breaking up with Asuna, but once he had explained it to her, she seemed to accept it and even later embrace "Auntie Sinon" as her "other momma" as Asuna would always be "momma," though she rarely acted like it nowadays, barely even logging on anymore.

Kazuto frowned and shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts. Today was a happy day, the day he asked the girl of his dreams to finally be his forever. He smiled to himself and looked up, searching for her.

She appeared as if out of nowhere, like a specter, at the entrance. And boy was she a looker. She wore a long, sky-blue evening dress and silver studs in her ears. He could tell she was a bit uncomfortable in her attire, as she hardly ever wore something that fancy, but he thought she couldn't get any more beautiful. For his part, he was wearing a pressed black suit with a black tie, just about as comfortable as she was. As Shino approached, Kazuto's mind suddenly went blank just looking at her, thinking maybe this wasn't a great time, maybe he should postpone this, until she spoke.

"Seriously, do you have anything in your wardrobe that isn't black?" she teased, instantly snapping him back to reality and pulling him from his thoughts. He chuckled nervously.

"Now why would I need that? I have a reputation to maintain after all!" he said, trying not to sound too nervous.

"I'm sure even your underwear is black," she mused as she sat down, putting her head in her hands. "I swear, sometimes you make me want to beat you senseless…" she sighed once again, picking up her menu.

" _She's acting a bit weird… less like she has recently and more like when we first met…"_ Kazuto thought to himself. " _I hope she's not angry with me over something."_ But before he could think on this any further, their waiter came over and asked if they were ready to order.

After the man left, they had a short conversation that involved a lot of one-worded answers on Shino's side ("how was your day?" "Good."). Kazuto was absolutely baffled by this, and decided to just allow them to sit in silence. Even during their meal, every time he tried to engage her, she would either give him more clipped responses or simply the cold shoulder. After the main course, she excused herself to go "freshen up" and Kazuto put his face in his hands.

"Yui I think this might be a bad time. She seems really upset about something, but I don't know what," he muttered to his daughter.

"Don't worry, daddy, I'm sure she's just stressed about something else and is taking it out on you!" she laughed, and he chalked it up to her being playful with him.

"Excuse me if that doesn't make me feel any better. Maybe I should just wait until she's calmed down a bit…" He fingered the ring in his pocket worriedly.

"No! I think you proposing tonight might relax her!" the voice said with a hint of a laugh to it.

"Alright. I guess I'll try. Here she comes." He sat up and braced himself. Shino walked across the room toward their table again, not seeming to notice how tense her date had become as she sat down.

"Uh… Shino?"

"Yes?" she asked, dark, grayish-brown eyes flicking up to _stare into his soul._

" _Here goes,"_ Kazuto thought, gulping nervously before opening his mouth again. "Do you know why this restaurant is so special to me?"

She continued to look at him, eyebrow slightly raised in a silent question, and Kazuto ploughed on before his nerves could get the better of him.

"About six years ago, I was asked here by Chryshieght to take on a job for his organization: to investigate the professional VRMMO Gun Gale Online and the mysterious player Death Gun. I took that job, and while it was one of the most dangerous things I've ever done and made me risk losing everything I had to live for… I don't regret it for one second."

He took a pause, trying to gauge any sort of reaction out of the beautiful, ebony-haired girl sitting before him. He really wished she wasn't so good at pulling stoic faces.

"Because of that job, I met you, and there is no way I would ever take that back. So to answer the question, this restaurant symbolizes the moment when our paths were made to cross. That's why this place is so special to me, and I figured… if this place marks that fateful beginning, why not have it mark another one?"

Chest tight and limbs shaking slightly, Kazuto stood and got down on one knee beside the table.

"So, that being said, Yui would like to ask you something."

Slipping his phone out of his pocket, he placed it screen-up on the table and tapped "speaker."

"Auntie Sinon! Will you marry daddy?"

And then he presented the ring.

Suddenly, the whole restaurant became silent, everyone's attention glued to the couple. Normally, feeling their gazes would have crushed Kazuto with the pressure (which was why he had briefly considered doing this somewhere more private), but for all he cared right then those people could have been furniture. Shino was the only thing he could focus on, her dark eyes appraising him, face dauntingly impassive, her lack of tears and shouts of joy crushing his spirit and _shit he really should have just backed out when he had the chance!_

For a million years, she just sat there, arms and legs crossed as she glared at him. Was it always this hot in here?

"…No."

Kazuto literally felt like he had been hit in the stomach with a bowling ball.

Shino continued to scrutinize him, her gaze hard and unwavering as it remained trained on him. "What if that's what I said?"

He blinked, and suddenly the knot in his stomach loosened, if only slightly. "If you said no?"

His date gave him a small nod, sleek hair shining almost like a halo around her head.

Kazuto took as subtle a breath as he could before opening his mouth to answer. "I'd never stop asking you. I'd keep chasing you and never leave you alone because you're the love of my life and I could never just let you go."

Shino's lips pressed into a thin line, and Kazuto suddenly felt like he should have worn a bulletproof vest to this little excursion. Then, she stood up, tall and imposing from her vantage point, and for a horrible moment Kazuto's heart twisted painfully in his chest at the thought of her leaving him there, kneeling pathetically on the floor… alone.

But then he registered the fact that she hadn't walked away at all— _she had gotten closer_ —and was now taking a seat on his leg, wrapping her arms around his neck as easily as breathing. She did it so gracefully, so smoothly with all unnecessary energy and movement removed… he had to admit it was kind of sexy.

"Good answer."

The two of them stilled for a moment, gazes locked as they studied each other. Seeing that subtle fondness spark in her eyes, Kazuto felt his chest inflate and he cautiously allowed himself to feel a little enthusiastic.

"So… is that a yes?"

Shino's head tilted slightly to the side. "What do you think?"

A flash of movement caught the young man's attention. Obsidian gaze flicking down, he saw a small smile quirk at her lips… God, he really wanted to kiss her.

Restraining himself (barely), he reached an arm around Shino's waist, pulling their bodies flush together as he reached around her and pulled the small ring out of its velvet box.

"I think," he began, setting the box down and taking her hand. Gently, he slid the band onto her fourth finger and admired how right it felt to finally see it there before looking up into those eyes he loved so much, unable to hold back a smile. "Kirigaya Shino sounds like a nice name."

"You know what?" she asked, her small smile growing steadily by the second. "I've often thought that too."

Kazuto kissed her that time, arms pulling her in and lips crashing to hers. Smiling against him, Shino's hold around his neck tightened, deepening that sweet kiss to seal their promise.

Cheers and whistles erupted from the onlookers surrounding them, and suddenly the two broke apart, glancing around with glowing cheeks as they had forgotten where they were for a brief moment. They received many shouts of "congratulations!" and wishes of a happy life together before they abashedly sat back down, smiling warmly at each other with their hands entwined across the table.

"See, daddy? She said yes!" Yui's ever-bright voice resonated from Kazuto's phone, which was still lying on the table partially forgotten in the rush of the moment.

"Yeah, am I glad for that," he sighed, thumb gently running over the back of Shino's hand. "You really had me worried there for a second."

"Aw, I did?" the ebony - haired girl asked, an easy smile lightly tugging at her lips and that light in her eyes as she gazed at him. He was relieved she was back to her normal self.

The young man nodded. "I thought for sure you were going to dump me and just leave me here. Right after you pulled out a Glock and shot me full of holes, that is."

"Hmm, well that means it worked."

Kazuto's dark eyes stared at her for exactly ten seconds, his mind trying to grasp the words that had just entered his ears and rattled around in his brain. "Wait. What?"

Shino continued to smile, not even sparing him a glance as she fixed her eyes on his phone. "This collaboration worked really well, Yui. I'm glad we did it."

"Me too! We should do this again sometime!"

Kazuto gaped, mouth hanging open as he struggled for words. Suddenly he sat up, eyes wide and finger pointing accusingly. "You… you two were conspiring against me!"

Shino laughed and Yui's tinkling giggle sounded from his cell before his fiancée spoke again. "Sorry, Kazuto. I wanted to see how you would react. There's no hard feelings, right?" she asked, her hand squeezing his at her question.

"So this was for entertainment purposes?"

The woman shrugged. "It was more of an experiment, but I suppose you could look at it that way."

Kazuto was left to stare at her again, not knowing what he should say at this point. The way she explained it, he really should have seen something like this coming; it was such a Shino thing to do. It was devious, calculated for her own benefit even at his expense (though slight it was). Basically, she had used him.

Why did he find that so _attractive?_

With a groan, Kazuto dropped his head to the table, the silverware clattering with the impact. He honestly could not understand his choice in women. But he had decided to marry her so…

"Come on," said woman urged, finger running soothingly across his knuckles. "Why don't you pay the bill and then we can get out of here?"

"I'm not sure I should do that anymore," he muttered through the tablecloth, but even then she could understand him just fine, like she could interpret him without having to actually hear his voice. "My mind is still trying to cope. Not to mention you just psychologically abused me."

"All that inner turmoil after the _proposal?"_ Shino raised an amused eyebrow. "You do realize that we're getting married now, right? That requires a bunch of planning and interacting with people—planners, caterers, decorators—" A defeated groan sounded from her date, and she smiled almost sympathetically. "Not to mention we have to tell everyone that we're engaged. I assume you haven't told anybody yet?"

"…I'm dead. Please put me out of my misery."

With a sigh, Shino rolled her eyes. "I'm sure that's something we can do at home, Kazuto. If it makes you feel better, I'll pay next time."

There was a slight pause in which Kazuto thought over her words. Finally, he sighed, sat up, and called their waiter over. When the man arrived at their table, he smiled, giving them another "congratulations" and a discount offer on their food (which Kazuto declined at a look from his future wife). Pretty soon they had paid, and Kazuto escorted his new fiancée out of the café like a perfect gentleman.

He may not have understood his taste in women, but as he walked Shino out, making sure to take a cab with her and take her home himself, he was conscious of how she walked at his side with perfect ease, with trust as she held onto his arm and leaned into his shoulder all the way to her apartment. He noticed how content he felt, how happy he was to have this person at his side, how excited he was to have her there for the rest of his life, and he decided his taste in women wasn't all that bad.


	2. Breaking the News

A/N: So if you haven't guessed yet by how long this took, this chapter was written by me :P And so will the next one so deal! But after that, Warrior-san will take over; basically I have the wedding chapter and he's in charge of the honey moon. Should be fun :) By the way, we sort of halved the first one, in case you wanted to know.

Thanks for all the support! It's so greatly appreciated by the both of us. Keep sending reviews because those are honestly the best. You guys make this happen just as much as we do. Just so you know.

Now please enjoy this if-y chapter.

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 **~Chapter 2: Breaking the News~**

Looking around at his group of friends scattered about the bar, talking and laughing and having drinks together, Kazuto knew he was pretty much screwed. How the hell was he supposed to tell them all that he was going to get _married_ and to _Shino_ no less? They were all a close-knit group; everyone practically knew everyone. The situation was so easy and comfortable… how could he just drop that bomb and possibly make it so unbearably awkward?

But then, he took one look at his fiancée, saw her hand on his arm, her warm eyes, her mouth twitch up in a small smile, and he reaffirmed his resolve to say it because the risk was definitely worth it.

"Come on, Kazuto," Shino encouraged with a small nudge. "I'm right here. We'll be doing this together."

The young man smiled in return, hand reaching to cover hers against his arm and twine their fingers. "I know. Thanks, Shino."

"It's the least I can do," she said, her smile turning slightly devious. "I _am_ the best."

Kazuto chuckled. "Don't I know it?"

"You better. Or else this is going to be a long 'rest of our lives.'"

He gave one last laugh before leaning in to kiss her. The contact was chaste, but lasted long enough for him to gain the courage he needed for what they planned to do.

"You do realize I have bathrooms right?" a deep voice asked from beside them. "I even have a backroom I would let you use if you just asked me."

Kazuto pulled away from Shino, sigh escaping his nose and eyes narrowed in the slightest irritation. "Thanks, Andrew. We'll be sure to keep that in mind."

The bartender smirked at them over the counter, pausing in wiping down the oak wood surface with the rag in his hand. "No problem."

"So have you just been creeping on us this whole time?" Shino asked teasingly. "We're not children; we don't need a chaperone."

"Of course you don't," Andrew (Agil) answered, and Kazuto made note of the fact he didn't say anything about creeping on them. "How's my favorite couple doing? Can I get you anything? How about a refill?"

"No thanks," Kazuto said. "We're good on drinks… Do you have any knives back there?"

The older man raised an eyebrow. "You want a knife? May I ask what for?"

"To stab into the hearts of my enemies," came the deadpan reply, then a grunt as Shino elbowed her fiancé in the ribs.

Andrew's mouth twitched into a smile. "Right, you got it." The man walked away only to return seconds later with a set of silverware wrapped in a napkin. Handing it over the counter, he made a point to offer it to Shino. "I'd feel safer if you supervised."

The ebony-haired girl smirked, taking the package into her hand. "Thanks, Andrew. I'll be sure to watch him."

With a wink, Andrew stood straight and resumed his cleaning.

Shino was still smiling as she turned back to Kazuto, and it only twitched wider as she saw his deadpan expression which said "I can't believe you just did that." Chuckling, she motioned for him to stand up, doing so herself and slipping the knife from the cloth.

Seconds later, the sound of ringing glass filled the humble bar, and the voices died down to silence, all eyes fixed upon the couple at the counter.

" _Aaaannd there are the eyes,"_ Kazuto thought, already feeling himself growing hot under the collar. He tugged at it nervously, cleared his throat in the least awkward way he could possibly muster, and spoke.

"Hey, everyone," he started, then immediately wanted to kick himself and just sit down or maybe throw himself out the window because he was such a massive failure. But he could feel Shino's presence right beside him, so he swallowed and continued. "So… I have an announcement to make. Well, _we_ do," he corrected himself, taking Shino's hand for all to see. And he averted his gaze from them as he said the next part.

"I asked Shino to marry me." There was silence, so Kazuto pushed on. "And… we're getting married now." Still nothing. Now would have been a good time for the floor to open up and swallow him because _God he was so bad at this._ "Anyway," he said, his words mashed together at a speed out of his control. "I hope that doesn't make things—"

Suddenly, the bar erupted into cheers, people shouting and clapping with a few whistles ringing out here and there. Kazuto blinked, staring dumbly at the room as chairs scraped across the floor and bodies rushed over to them.

"Oh my God, that's so great!" Keiko exclaimed, rushing over to the couple and throwing her arms around them both.

Rika stood only a few paces away, crossing her arms and smirking knowingly. "It's about time you guys decided to tie the knot. I almost thought you would never get there."

"It's more like we weren't sure if Kazuto was actually going pop the question," Ryoutaro corrected, grinning and throwing his arm over the younger male in a headlock, ruffling his hair even at the protest the action received. "About time, man!"

"Onii-chan! Why didn't you tell me?!" Suguha asked, though she couldn't suppress her smile as she went in for a hug.

The red-haired man released his captive, who glared at him and impatiently swiped at his hair to tame it before turning to his sister and hugging her.

"Well, I told you now, didn't I?"

"But I'm your sister, dummy!" she scolded, but looked as if she expected nothing else from him. "I approve anyway, but still! It's proper for you to clear it with your family first."

"S-sorry," he stuttered, wary now as he wanted to avoid unnecessary head bashing.

"I suppose I'll have to forgive you this time," Suguha sighed, then turned and put her arms around Shino in an embrace. "Congratulations, you guys."

"Thanks, Suguha," Shino responded, returning her future sister-in-law's hug tentatively, but returning it nonetheless. "That means a lot."

Watching them, Kazuto smiled. It was good to know that at least the most important girls in his life would get along even with this development.

Then a splash of chestnut-brown caught his attention. Turning his head quickly, the young man fixed his eyes on familiar, long, chestnut hair and matching eyes.

He swallowed. "Asuna."

The woman gave him a tight smile. "Hey, Kazuto," she greeted, hands clasped delicately in front of her. There was a small bout of silence between them, one Kazuto was reluctant to break. But it had to be done.

"Asuna… listen," he began, "I don't want this to make things weird between us, ok?"

For a moment, she merely looked up at him. But then she nodded, and a small wave of relief washed through Kazuto's chest. "Me neither. Congratulations."

The young man felt a small smile edge its way onto his face. "Thanks, Asuna," he said, then watched as she turned to Shino and offered her similar a greeting.

The interactions went on for a while, several more people coming up to them and offering their congratulations as well. Even though this meant Kazuto had to physically and verbally thank every one of these people, he found he didn't mind very much. Breaking the news to them had been so well accepted, he knew that their marriage wouldn't affect how things were at all.

"So, I'm definitely Maid of Honor, right?" Rika was asking Shino. "Cuz there is no way I am settling for anything less. I called dibs on Maid of Honor when you two finally started dating."

Kazuto noticed how Shino looked slightly overwhelmed with all the girls surrounding her and smiled, somewhat out of pity and more so out of amusement… yeah he was definitely going to make the best husband.

"No you didn't," Keiko rebutted looking dubious.

"Well, I did in my head so nyeh!" the older girl replied swiftly, sticking her tongue out impishly and making Keiko cross her arms.

"Actually, I was already planning on asking you," Shino said with a small smile. "So I take it that's a yes?"

"Yes!" Rika exclaimed, grinning broadly. "A wise decision on your part. Don't worry, I've been planning for this."

"Does that mean we can be your bridesmaids?" Keiko asked excitedly, before Shino could ask exactly _what_ had been planned. The younger girl's brown eyes sparkled with excitement, hands clasped in anticipation.

Shino nodded. "You, Sugu, and Asuna. If you want to be, that is."

"Of course," Suguha smiled. "I'd love to."

"Great," Shino replied. Then a small silence fell over them as they looked to the last bridesmaid candidate, who remained silent.

"Asuna…" Shino began, standing so that they faced each other fully. The two of them looked each other in the eye, Shino's expression soft as she regarded her friend. "Kazuto and I agree that we don't want this to affect our relationship with you in anyway. If you don't want to, I understand but… just know, if you did, it would mean a lot to me. You've become a good friend of mine and I want you to be part of my wedding."

Asuna stayed silent, keeping eye-contact with Shino for the longest time, but neither of them looked away or backed down. The rest of the bar noticed and became hushed, watching with bated breath…

"Of course I'll be part of your wedding," Asuna answered, giving a small smile. "I would be honored."

Shino returned the gesture. "Thank you."

"…So, Kazuto," Ryoutaro began after a while, probably in an attempt to break the tension and return the room to its earlier, lighthearted atmosphere. He was giving the younger male an expectant, excited look, eyebrows wiggling. "Do you have anything you'd like to ask me?"

"…Yeah." Kazuto turned to him with a blink. For a moment, he simply looked at him, watching his expression carefully. "Do you want to be the ring bearer?"

"Wha—? _Ring bearer?!"_ Ryoutaro shouted, eyes going wild. "Dude, that's so not cool! I'm supposed to be Best Man. _Best. Man!"_

"Nnnooooo… Don't think so."

"Oh, come on!"

"Well, if you really want to, I guess I can allow it."

"That's more like it," came a smug reply.

"You're still going to have to carry the rings though," Kazuto stated pointedly. "Since we have no one else to hold them."

"Fine. So long as I'm Best Man, I'm good." Suddenly, Ryoutaro slung an arm around his shoulders. "And hey, we'll get to throw an awesome bachelor party."

"How about no," the younger deadpanned. "I thought we all agreed parties aren't my thing."

"But this is a _bachelor_ party, man!"

Kazuto rolled his obsidian eyes and ducked out from the embrace. "We can go do stuff in-game, but that's it."

"Alright, I can work with that!" came a determined reply, and Kazuto was regretting it already.

"We'll just play. Got that?" he added quickly, catching sight of the downtrodden expression he received in return.

"Killjoy."

"Wait. So no parties?" Rika asked incredulously.

Kazuto walked to Shino's side, their hands instantly coming together. "No. We've pretty much agreed that those are pointless."

"We might have a small pre-celebration," Shino commented offhandedly. "But no actual parties. Please."

"Ugh, fine!" Rika lamented.

"So when is this wedding?" Andrew asked, now on the customer side of the bar counter.

"Uh…" Kazuto began, but trailed off. He hadn't really thought about that. Great, so, another reason this would be a successful marriage.

"Winter." Blinking, Kazuto turned to look at his fiancée who had answered with barely a moment's hesitation. "We haven't worked out the date yet, but we'll be sure to send invitations to everyone."

"Oooh, a winter wedding! That sounds so pretty!" Keiko exclaimed. "That would be a nice theme."

"And it fits them too," Rika added with a smirk. "The dark, shady couple having a wedding in the middle of the coldest, darkest season."

"Thank you for putting that into perspective for us," Kazuto said dully, watching as Rika turned a smirk on him.

"Hmm. She has a point," Shino said thoughtfully, making Kazuto turn to look at her. "You wear so much black anyway, it's just your style."

"So I'm basically the dark and creepy guy."

"Yes," came a unanimous answer before he could add anything else.

Sulking, Kazuto put his hand on his hip and made a point to stare at the door.

"Not necessarily though," Shino added, catching his eyes with a small smile. "You could change that image."

"Really, how?" he asked.

His fiancée's smile took on a slightly mischievous air. "You could just wear white."

He gaped at her. "You want the groom to wear _white?_ "

"Oh my god, YES!" Rika cut in. "Shino could wear the suit and tie and Kazuto could walk down the aisle with the veil and the train and everything!"

"I AM NOT WEARING A DRESS TO MY WEDDING!"

Shino laughed and the rest of the small crowd followed soon after as the Groom and the Maid of Honor continued to argue over the state of dress of _everyone_ who would be at the ceremony. Before it could get too heated, Shino stopped them and Andrew offered a round of drinks on the house to toast to the upcoming union.

"To the bride!" Rika shouted, to which everyone shouted in agreement. They drank. And then silence.

"Um, hello?" Kazuto asked. "Groom right here, thank you."

"We're not toasting to you," the brunette said smugly.

"Why not?"

"Cuz we're wishing _her_ luck," Ryoutaro supplied with a grin. "Dude, she's marrying _you."_

"I'm not that bad," he protested. Another silence. Uncertain, he turned to Shino. "Right?"

"Hmm."

"What do you mean _hmm?!"_

Shino laughed, leaning to hug his arm and give him a quick peck on the lips. "I can manage."

"I am still not satisfied with that answer."

"Well, that's too bad. You're paying for the next round of drinks anyway."

" _What?!"_ Kazuto protested, but was drowned out by the cheers of the other patrons. Soon, everyone was crowding the bar, leaving Kazuto to stand in a pocket of isolation with his wife-to-be, him sulking at her smug, amused expression.

"So this is what marriage is going to be like?" he asked. "Just me obeying you and catering to your every whim?"

"Pretty much."

He groaned. "What did I get myself into?"

"Having seconds thoughts?" Shino asked playfully.

"Well…" Kazuto received a smack on the arm, and he felt himself smile. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her closer to him, both of them smiling at each other. "I _was_ the one who proposed to you. I guess I can manage."

They kissed again, and this time, it was longer. Rawer, heartfelt. They kissed until they were lightheaded and breathless, and that was more than enough of a promise to them.


	3. Wedding Day

A/N: Yay! This was actually on time! So, funny story. I got my brother to read the beginning of this chapter because he asked what I was doing and I thought what I had so far was pretty funny. So he read it. Then he choked on his soda, told me to keep writing, and walked away XD It was honestly the best thing about writing this chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 3-Wedding Day**

Of course Kazuto had to be late to his own wedding. It was typical, really. He should have seen it coming. His life was just a whole bunch of failures and mishaps all strung together like one big joke in an anime where the creator was ironically against his existence on purpose. That had to be it—the world just had to be against him because now he was finally going to marry the girl of his dreams and _there's an accident in the middle of the fastest route to the courthouse._

"That's it," he stated dejectedly, head bowed and resting in his hands. "I officially hate my life. Please see to my funeral."

"You're not going to die," Andrew gave him a brief, amused smile before turning his eyes back on the road. "It looks like we'll just have to take a different route."

"But that's just it," Kazuto lamented. "The only other way to get there requires going around half the city which adds _half an hour_ to our driving time. We're already pushing it as it is and Shino is going to kill me for being late to our own wedding. So yeah, make sure I have a decent coffin and that my life's work goes to someone willing to continue my legacy."

"You mean you want us to donate your videogames to some nerds in a lab?" Ryoutaro asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the backs of Andrew's seats.

"They're not videogames! They're computer programs and mechatronics schematics!"

"So nerd stuff," the thirty-year-old grinned, ruffling Kazuto's hair playfully. "Don't worry dude, I'm sure that as long as you actually _get_ to your wedding, Shino won't rip your head off and feed you to wild dogs."

Kazuto sat up and leaned away from him and toward the window, obviously annoyed as he swiped at his hair to tame it again. "Yeah, she'll just feel gracious and rip off some _other_ part of my body."

"Well at least we know which one it won't be. She might want kids in the future."

That made the Groom turn deep crimson, face flushed like a tomato and eyes wide as the other men in the car filled the car with loud laughter. Meanwhile, the car turned around and headed in the opposite direction, the three occupants in for a long ride full of sly comments, innuendos, and embarrassment.

When the courthouse finally came in sight, Kazuto thought he was home free.

Then he noticed the construction happening in the parking lot.

Now, he usually wasn't one to curse but—

"Fuck me to hell."

—because now they had to park down the street and the ceremony had technically started _fifteen minutes ago._

And it was raining. In 2 degree weather (35 in Fahrenheit).

So, yeah, he ran through the freezing rain in his suit and tie to the courthouse.

He burst through the front doors panting, closely followed by Andrew and Ryoutaro who shut the double doors behind them and leaned there to catch their breaths.

"Last time… I trust you… with anything, Ryou!"

"Dude, at least we _got here!"_

"The Best Man's job is to get the Groom to his wedding _one time._ Not force him to wait as long as he can because he shouldn't have anything to worry about," Andrew stated pointedly.

" _How was I supposed to know his wedding day was going to be cursed?!"_

"It's not cursed," Kazuto sighed, straightening and collapsing the black umbrella Andrew had let him borrow. He leaned it against a nearby wall and turned to straighten out his suit. It was white—white slacks, white button-down shirt, white blazer— except for his vest, tie, and shoes which were gray. Honestly, all the light-colored clothing made him feel weird, but he supposed it made a bigger statement than if he had worn black, which was a common occurrence for him. "All these things just happened to take place and were out of our control."

"What? How can you not take this as a bad omen? They say that rain on your wedding day is bad luck!"

"Kazuto isn't one to believe in superstition," Andrew said from the wall, smirking across the room at said younger man. "And neither is Shino. Some rain certainly won't stop them from getting married and being happy."

A set of pounding footsteps brought their attention to the hallway. They turned they heads, catching sight of Asuna running down the hall and white high heels, the long, light blue skirt of her dress clutched in her hands to keep her from tripping over it.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, coming to a halt in the foyer. She looked around at them with intent, chestnut eyes. "We've been worrying about where you were."

"Sorry," Kazuto apologized sheepishly. "We were held up."

"Well, come on. Everyone's waiting."

The three men nodded, briskly making their way over to the bridesmaid and to the room where they would hold the ceremony. But as soon as Kazuto reached Asuna, her hand grabbed his arm. Surprised, he looked at her, wide eyes meeting her hesitant ones.

"Um… Kazuto. Could I talk to you for a minute?"

Slowly, the Groom's eyes widened. In stunned silence, he glanced over at Ryoutaro and Andrew, who were staring at him with alarm and questions in their eyes.

Swallowing, Kazuto glanced back at Asuna, who refused to meet his eyes and instead took to staring at the floor.

Seeing her like that, the young man sighed. Posture relaxing, he turned to the other males in the room, giving them an easy smile. "You guys go ahead. Tell Shino I had to fix my hair."

They stared at him a moment longer, then nodded, turned, and headed down the hall without them.

Kazuto looked back at Asuna again, and her hand dropped from her arm. She still refused to face him for a moment, and he gave her some time to gather herself before asking in a soft voice "What did you need to talk about."

She was quiet for a little longer.

"Well, it's just," she paused, hesitantly looking him in the eye. "You're getting married. And… and I just need to know something." She took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and finally lifted her chin, back straight and air dignified. "I still have feelings for you," she began, making a pit form in Kazuto's stomach. "I can't let you get married to someone else with the possibility that we could still have a chance. I need to know, Kazuto, whether what we shared was fake, if it was just me and it was all in my head." Her expression was hard, guarded, but her eyes shone through, pleading with him. "Is this what you really want?"

For several, long seconds, Kazuto was struck dumb. He could only stare at her, her words buzzing around his head as he thought them over. He couldn't deny that he felt guilty about his relationship with Asuna, at least a little bit. In his point of view, they had been growing distant when they had broken up, and around that same time, he had been feeling less inclined to be with Asuna and had unconsciously taken the time to grow closer to Shino. Being with Asuna in the romantic capacity hadn't felt right to him anymore, and he had ended. He had had suspicions that Asuna had still wanted to be together… but for her sake, he had hoped she would have been able to move on.

"Asuna," he began, looking deep into her eyes. "I'm not in love with you anymore." He winced as he saw something shatter in her eyes, and he mentally kicked himself, praying his social skills would be adequate enough to get him through the rest of this without breaking her heart entirely.

Taking a deep breath, Kazuto reached down and took both of the girl's hands between his own.

"I may not be in love with you anymore, but I still love you," he continued, watching her eyes widen. "I need you to understand that I can't ever, and will never, hate you. You will always be important to me; you were there for me in SAO when I thought I was alone. You saved me, and I will owe you for the rest of my life. For that, you will always have a place in my heart. But," he paused, making sure he would say this right before continuing. "I'm not _in love_ with you. I asked Shino to marry me, and honestly, I own that as the best thing I've ever done in my life. So yes, this is what I really want. Shino makes me happy, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her… And I hope that, one day, you can find someone to share that with too."

Her eyes were sparkling now, tears threatening to form, and Kazuto wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Tentatively, he took the handkerchief out of his breast pocket and handed it to her. She took it gingerly, dabbing at her eyes.

"What we had, it wasn't fake. It just… ended up not suiting us at some point."

Kazuto finished, watching her carefully. If he was honest, he was glad she had brought this to his attention before the wedding. It probably would have crushed her if she had waited before everything was finalized. This way, she could have closure and maybe finally move on because she deserved to be happy too.

Asuna took a shaky breath, folding the handkerchief carefully and handing it back to him. "Shino's a lucky girl," she stated, making Kazuto smile slightly. Asuna gave a small smile back. "I know I'm supposed to say this at the reception, but I wish you a happy life."

For a while, they simply looked at each other, the gravity of their choices and the present they had lead up to finally sinking in for both of them. Finally, they could settle at a comfortable distance away from each other, content and at peace.

"We should go," Asuna said, ending the silence. "They're still waiting. I'll head back first so no one asks questions."

"That's probably smart."

The woman smiled at him, turned in her heel and began to walk off, shoes clicking down the hallway until she opened a door and disappeared inside.

Taking a breath, Kazuto let his thoughts settle and exhaled again. Right. Now that that was over, he had to get married to a woman that was probably really pissed at him for being late to their wedding. It was one dangerous girl after another for him, wasn't it?

Patting down his hair one last time, Kazuto took another breath and followed after Asuna.

When he opened the door to the courtroom, he was met with thirty people standing around the room, all dressed formally and talking in subdued voices. They formed an aisle down the middle, leading to the front of the room where the actually ceremony would take place. Standing there with obvious order were five people all dressed according to a common theme. Keiko, Rika and Asuna stood in their matching bridesmaid's dresses, all pale-blue with white shoes and accessories. Ryoutaro stood on the other side of the aisle, gray tux and white button-down neatly pressed and blue tie tucked between.

But Kazuto barely glanced at them before locking eyes on the fifth person.

Shino stood in the exact center, watching and waiting for him patiently. She wore a long, floor-length wedding dress as back as the night. It had a heart neckline and thin, lacy shoulder straps that complimented her collar bones. The dress was form-fitting along her torso, accentuating her curves as it cinched in at her waist and gradually flowed out to her feet. In her hands, she held a bouquet of blue Periwinkles and Forget Me Nots, sprigs of that latter adorning her hair.

She was absolutely beautiful.

Kazuto barely noticed the other people grow quiet as he walked toward her, feet carrying him of their own accord toward her awaiting gaze.

She gave him a small smirk as he walked up to her. "You know, the Bride is the one that's supposed to walk down the aisle, not the Groom."

Kazuto didn't answer. Instead, he walked right up to her, slid an arm around her waist, and kissed her. Surprised, Shino gasped, but soon relaxed into his arms, hands resting against his chest and still holding the bouquet as she kissed him back.

A few whistles came from the audience, but neither seemed to notice until they had broken apart, foreheads resting against each other.

Shino looked up at Kazuto with wide eyes, chest heaving in small pants. "Kazuto… what was that?"

"You're perfect" was his simple answer, and it made her cheeks turn pink and her heart skip a beat.

"Well. That was some kiss." The two turned their head and looked at the Best Man, who was smirking at them like he was amused, but seemed just as surprised as the both of them. "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to save that for after the "I do's" but, you know, before is just as good I guess."

"Someone's impatient," the Maid of Honor added impishly. "It would probably be a good idea to hurry up and finish this ceremony before you two eat each other."

Laughter sounded from the crowd, making Kazuto's cheeks color as well as he loosened his grip on Shino. "Sorry," he apologized quickly, but only looked at the girl in his arms. "We were held up. I'm sure you heard the story already."

"It's ok," his Bride condoned, smiling softly at him. "I only got here about ten minutes ago."

"Oh, thank god," he groaned, head coming to rest on her shoulder. "I'm glad I'm not the only one. I thought for sure you were going to kill me for being late."

"Of course not," Shino said matter-of-factly. "I might want kids in the future."

There was a beat of silence before Kazuto looked at her. Then he glared over at Ryoutaro who was doing a poor job at hiding his laughter. "Bastard."

Andrew and Ryou laughed openly after that, and Shino gave a little chuckle before grabbing Kazuto's attention again.

"Come on. Everyone's been waiting for us to get here so they can actually watch us get married."

"Right," Kazuto sighed, moving back so his hands rested on her waist. "You look great, by the way."

"So I gathered," Shino said with a roll of her eyes. "You don't look bad yourself. White suits you." The Groom gave a small grunt as Shino plucked a Periwinkle from her bouquet. "Here, a little splash of color." She placed the flower into his lapel, both of them looking to admire her work.

"I feel so pretty."

Shino laughed, and Kazuto felt a warm glow under the Periwinkle.

"So, ready to finally get married?"

Kazuto smiled. Turning, he faced the "alter" and caught sight of Asuna. She gave him a small smile, and he smiled wider in turn. "Yeah. Let's get this started."

The two faced their officiator, who was an older man with graying hair. He smiled at them warmly, and they began the rest of their lives.

* * *

It may have taken a long time to get to that point, but the ceremony itself wasn't very long. It was a short, simple rite as neither of them wanted anything too extravagant. The official said a few words, they said their vows, and then they signed their names on a sheet of paper along with the signatures of those designated as the witnesses to the union. Really, the wedding was rather plain, and that was how they preferred it.

The reception was what they really needed to worry about.

Honestly. They should have had the foresight not to stock alcohol.

"Yuh gis er _sssoooooo_ lucky!" Ryoutaro slurred from across the white-clothed table, arms slung across the top with a bottle of sake in one hand. "I h… haven' even 'ad a steady gurlfriend'n _years!_ Don' screw it up!"

"Y-yeah, Onii-chan!" Suguha added from the other side, cheeks a light crimson. "And you… you b-better listen here, bub. _Hic!_ —you better take rel—re—really good care of Shino or so help me I'll— _hic!_ —I'll… doooo something, you'll see!"

"Sugu," Kazuto sighed. "I'm right here. That's a cactus."

" _Shh!"_ She hissed, swatting at his arm, not even glancing at him. "I'm trying to tell him something im _por_ tant! Onii-chan, yoouuu hear me?! Shino-san is really good for you… don't l-look so green! Just man up!"

"How many has she had?" Shino whispered to her husband, leaning over his shoulder.

He sighed again. "Three glasses of Champaign."

"…Wow."

"If you think that's bad, you should see Keiko," Rika snickered. Her hand gestured to the far wall, and the three of them glanced over. The younger girl was currently passed out beside Asuna, who was grimacing and rubbing her back in sympathy. "She's knocked out and she only had two."

"What… is wrong with our group of friends?" Kazuto asked. "Is it too much to just want normal? Is it really?"

"Yep!" Rika grinned. "You should know by now, Kazuto, that we're anything but normal. I mean, we do know _you."_

"Gee, thanks."

"Ow!" Suguha suddenly exclaimed, cradling her finger. "O _nii-_ chan! That hurt! Why did you do that?"

"Sugu! You don't touch the cactus! Here, let me see," he said, taking her hand in his and inspecting it.

The younger Kirigaya pouted, then her attention suddenly zoomed in on something across the room. "The cat people have come for us."

"Um, Suguha-san," Shinichi (or Recon as he was known in ALO) began hesitantly. "We're not in-game right now?"

Briefly, Shino looked in the direction her new sister-in-law was staring. Just where exactly had she gotten cat people from?

"You should be fine," Kazuto said as he wrapped a napkin around her small cut. "It's not very deep."

"Do you think it's about time we sent people home?" Shino asked, leaning close to him to be heard in the noise of multiple conversations overlapping each other.

"That might be best," her husband sighed. "Come on, Sugu. Let's take you home." He moved to take her arm and lift her up.

"No, I can get up myself!" she protested. Then immediately almost fell of the table and had to slam her palm onto the table to steady herself.

Kazuto felt a sweat drop form on his neck. If this was only what getting Sugu home would be like, he didn't want to imagine everyone else.

"Oh, come on, man. We goin' home now?!" Ryoutaro suddenly shouted way too loudly and draped himself over Kazuto. "We was just startin' tuh have fun!"

"You reek of booze," the younger male stated blandly, wrinkling his nose and attempting to get the man off of him.

"Come on, Ryou." Suddenly Andrew was there along with his wife, and he pulled the redhead up into a standing position. "Kazuto and Shino have a honeymoon to get to."

"Shit, what time is it?!" Kazuto cursed, eyes suddenly wide.

"Time for us to leave," Shino answered, eyes one the clock above the front door.

"You should go," Andrew said to them. "Those of us who had the sense to stay sober will help getting everyone home safe."

"Great. Thanks," Kazuto said, relief flooding through him. If this mess could be left to someone else, then maybe they could catch the—

"No, wait! I wanna say goodbye!" Suguha interjected.

"But you don't have to come to the—"

"I said I want to!" she demanded, eyes practically burning with determination and a warning that if he made one wrong move it was over.

"Ooo! I do too!" Ryoutaro added, looking excited. "We hafta send ya off!"

"Uh, well…" Kazuto began, but he saw the looks in their eyes and knew getting rid of them was easier said than done.

"We'll have to change quickly then," Shino sighed. She grimaced at him, then rushed off to change out of her dress.

Kazuto sighed. So it looks like they had to babysit all the way to the train station.

* * *

A/N: So, this thing with Asuna. I feel like I have this habit to automatically hate any characters who get in the way of my OTPs simply on principle and not for any actual reason. Which is totally unfair. Asuna is a good character (if you conveniently forget certain parts of the anime) and I should really judge her on that and not the fact that she's in the way of Shino and Kazuto being canon. And even if Kazuto did break up with her, I feel like he would still try to be good to her and keep her in his life because they did endure one of the darkest times of their lives together. So, yeah, I hope you understand my point of view.

Next chapter is the honeymoon!


	4. The Honeymoon Part 1

A/N: First chapter of the honeymoon! As you know, the honeymoon is pretty much all Warrior-san's work. The only things I can take credit for are flashbacks and a little editing which is barely anything. This chapter is slightly more mature, fyi, but nothing major enough to actually change the rating. I think you guys can handle that right ?;)

* * *

 **Chapter 4: The Honeymoon Part 1**

As they settled into their seats on the train, Kazuto and Shino felt a wave of exhaustion wash over them.

"Wow, a wedding really takes a lot out of you, huh?" Shino asked, stretching her arms over her head and yawning quietly.

"Yeah, I thought it would never be over. And then everyone couldn't stop saying goodbye at the station." Kazuto slouched into his seat. "Now we have another two hours to kill until we get to Kyoto."

Shino leaned into his shoulder. "YOU have two hours to kill. I intend on resting against your shoulder, so you better not move. Wake me when we get there." And before he could say anything she firmly planted her head on his shoulder and dozed off.

" _She must really trust me if she's so willing to doze off on me like that,"_ Kazuto thought to himself. _"Well of course she trusts you!"_ he mentally berated himself. _"She married you for god's sake, which means you'll be sleeping together a lot more than just a couple hours."_ That thought stopped him dead. Then it spiraled into multiple "what ifs" about their bedroom life and habits. _"What if she thinks I'm an idiot for only packing so many shirts? What if she thinks my breath smells in the morning and decides to leave me for some hunky man? What if-?"_ Shino fidgeted a little in her sleep, completely derailing his train of thought. He looked at her to make sure she was okay, and what he saw amazed him. She was _smiling_. Actually smiling! Kazuto couldn't help but smile himself. He realized that she would never leave him, especially after all that they've been through together. He shifted, moving to put his arm around her, which caused Shino to be jostled slightly.

"I'll kick your ass if you move again," she mumbled under her breath, and while Kazuto doubted she was coherent enough to even remember the threat later, he had no doubt she would follow through on it. So, he finished putting his arm around her and settled in for a long, if somewhat lonely, train ride.

" _So… what now?"_ Kazuto asked himself. Sighing softly, he turned and gazed out the window, watching the buildings pass by. He stilled as he felt Shino shift against his arm, sighing softly, and let a gentle smile cross his face. He remembered the first time he had actually asked her out on a date, and how it had turned out just like this…

* * *

" _Hurry up! The train's about to leave!"_

" _Co-coming!" Kazuto panted, sprinting as hard as he could. As soon as he cleared the doors, they closed and he doubled over, hands on his knees._

 _Shino smiled in equal parts amusement and sympathy, and the train began to move. "I knew you weren't really the athletic type, but this is pathetic."_

" _Well I'm sorry… I'm a pathetic person!" he shot back between wheezes, trying to catch his breath as quickly as possible to retain some iota of his dignity._

 _He heard Shino laugh, the sound light and good-natured, and suddenly it was ten times harder to breathe. "That's not what I said, stupid. I just said_ this _was pathetic."_

" _You're pathetic!"_

 _Shino rolled her eyes. "Come on, you baby. Let's take a seat somewhere so you can recover yourself."_

 _Kazuto felt a hand touch his arm. Taking in a decent, calming lungful of air, he straightened and faced Shino, watching as she passed him and found a couple seats halfway down the car. He sighed and walked over, taking the seat directly next to her and settling there comfortably. He blinked when he felt a weight drop onto his shoulder, and turned to find Shino resting against him like she owned the place._

" _Today was nice," she said. "I'm glad we could go out with everyone. It was fun."_

" _If you count me butchering the karaoke, yeah, it was the best thing I've ever done."_

 _Shino chuckled, and despite his slightly bitter mood, Kazuto felt himself smile. "We should do this again sometime."_

" _That's fine with me," Kazuto shrugged his free shoulder. "Just not anytime soon. That was enough social interaction to last me awhile."_

" _It was only two hours out with our friends."_

" _Exactly. Two long, exhausting hours of actually talking to people and physically exhausting myself for a purpose other than personal gain."_

" _You're so introverted IRL. It's ridiculous," Shino said, a small smile in her voice. "Not that you weren't already socially awkward… Maybe next time we can go with fewer people."_

" _I don't see how that's going to work," the young man grumbled. "If we only invite a few people, the rest will get upset and then we'll never hear the end of it."_

" _Then we just don't tell them."_

" _Someone's going to tell someone."_

" _Then we don't tell them either."_

 _Brow furrowing, Kazuto looked down at the top of Shino's head. "Then how exactly are they going to know we're hanging out?"_

 _Shino shrugged like it was of no consequence. "I guess they won't."_

" _But then it would just be the two of us," Kazuto protested. Then he froze, staring down at the soft, ebony hair as the strands tickled his neck. The girl beside him remained quiet for a while, as if waiting for something. "…Like a date?"_

 _There was another pause. "Who knows?"_

 _And then it was silent, the train clacking down the track as Kazuto was left to absorb what was happening._

"Is Shino… asking me out?" _he asked himself. But no, wait, she hadn't exactly_ asked _him._ _She implied she wanted to. The actually asking was supposed to be the guy's job._

"I've been thinking about this for a while anyway," _he thought._ "I just didn't ask because it was never the right time. But now…"

" _Hey, Shino…? You wanna go out on a date with me?" And he meant that with everything he had. Shino Asada has been his best, most trusted friend for almost five years now. At this point, taking the next step seemed only natural. They had actually reached that point long ago if you asked him._

" _I thought you'd never ask."_

" _So… is that a yes?"_

 _Her hand touched his, and their fingers intertwined easily. "What do you think?"_

 _And with that, their train ride continued in peaceful silence._

* * *

After about an hour and a half of reminiscing, Kazuto realized they were half an hour out, so he decided to wake up a very reluctant Shino.

"What?" she moaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "I was having an amazing dream. You better have a damn good reason for waking me up from that." She scowled at him, and Kazuto realized he should probably get used to this treatment if she usually woke up this cranky.

"We're about a half an hour out from Kyoto, so I figured I should wake you up now so you would be fully awake by the time we get there," he said nervously, hoping she wouldn't take his head off before the twenty-four-hour mark of their marriage.

Shino sat back in her seat and slowly nodded. "Good call," she said, pouting a little. _"I'm guessing she wanted a bit more sleep,"_ Kazuto thought to himself. They decided to pass the rest of the half hour by making idle, if half-hearted on Shino's side, chit-chat. Once they reached the station, Kazuto grabbed their bags from overhead and went onto the platform, quickly followed by Shino. After reaching the platform however, they had a small disagreement over bag distribution.

"Let me carry the big bags, or at least carry mine!" Shino said.

"No, I already have them. Besides, it's the man's job to carry the heavier loads!" Kazuto teased. But not really. Shino crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow at him. "Yes I know you're manlier than I am," he continued, reluctantly conceding that point. "But at least let me have this." He was practically begging, eyes wide and doleful and definitely not manly. Shino smiled cruelly at him.

"Alright. But just because you look so pathetic begging for it." She laughed as she pinched his cheek and walked ahead of him through the station and out onto the street. "So which hotel are we going to?"

"The Mume. It's modern, but also somewhat out of the way. And it has free breakfast!" Kazuto smiled like he had hit the jackpot. "We just need to walk to the bus stop." Shino rolled her eyes as she started walking. Unfortunately, they missed the first bus, and so had to wait ten minutes for the next one. During that time, they talked some more about this or that, both trying painfully to avoid the obvious topic: what were they expecting to do tonight?

Luckily, the bus came and put an end to their increasingly awkward conversation. During the ride, they tried desperately not to look each other in the eye while talking, instead looking over each other's shoulder. Once they arrived at the bus stop they needed to get off on, neither one could even look at the other. At the bus stop, as Kazuto was pulling their bags out, he heard Shino let out what could only be described as a squeak. When he looked over at her quizzically, all he could see was her hastily attempting to cover her face and the tomato-like complexion it had taken on.

As they approached the black and red entrance to Hotel Mume, they were completely silent, both contemplating the night. When they entered the hotel, however, all thoughts of that were completely erased as they took in the sheer beauty of their hotel. White walls lined with beautiful dark color art works, black furniture tastefully dotted in the foyer and hallways. All-in-all, it was magnificent. Kazuto approached the reception desk.

"Uh, hello...?" he asked tentatively.

"Oh, hello! So sorry, I didn't hear you come in!" the receptionist said, coming from the back room and standing dutifully behind the counter. "How may I help you?"

"I, uh, made a reservation here under the name Kirigaya," said Kazuto, hoping not to sound too nervous. "It was for a honeymoon suite?" he gulped as the receptionist quirked an eyebrow at him and looked behind him to where Shino stood, their small bags in her hand.

The receptionist smiled at him and discreetly gave him a thumbs-up. "Okay, Mr. Kirigaya, let me pull up the record." He typed a few things into his keyboard. "Ah, here you are. Looks like you rented one of the best rooms we have! Here are your keys, and you two enjoy yourselves!" he said as he winked at Kazuto, who in turn politely chuckled.

As they headed down the hall to their room, Kazuto was distracted, so when Shino tapped his arm he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Kazuto, you passed our room." She said with clear laughter in her voice. "Finding yourself somewhat distracted?" she teased.

Kazuto chuckled lightly. "Yeah, you could say that," he said as he handed her the keys and explained "You're less likely to lose them." She laughed at that, turning to unlock and open the door.

If the foyer was amazing, the room was absolutely stunning. A dark, almost black color covered the walls, red, ornamental murals painted artfully above the bed. On one wall sat a vanity, alongside several wooden ornaments. On the opposite wall was the entrance to the bathroom, which seemed to be a near perfect inverse of the room with mainly white tiles and some black strewn about. The shower was huge, along with all glass sinks. But the best part had to be the small windows off to the side where they could look out into the small garden the hotel kept in its center. Kazuto felt he had outdone himself this time, and apparently so did Shino, because right after they looked around, she kissed him quite passionately. They then set about to unpacking, and Kazuto did his best not to look at Shino's bag.

"Kazuto, it's fine for you to see my underwear now. We're married; you'll be seeing me in a lot less soon enough." That was it. That was the statement that caused it to really sink in for them. They shared a surname now, and not only that, but they were about to see each other like they had never seen before.

"You know, we don't need to do anything tonight…" Kazuto said nervously, a crack to his voice.

"I know that… but, we're married, and this is our wedding night… so shouldn't we at least do something..?" Shino asked quietly, which was abnormal for her.

They both sat on different sides of the bed, contemplating.

"So…" Kazuto said nervously, trying to break the awkward silence. "How do we wanna do this..?"

"I don't know. I've never done this; I was just going to follow your lead," Shino answered, turning to face him and crawled to his side and sat next to him, putting her arm around his torso. "I mean, I assumed you and Asuna…" she trailed off, knowing that was still a bit of a sore spot for the both of them.

"No, we never did it. Well, not IRL, anyway, and certainly not after SAO. She said she wanted to stay pure until marriage," he explained, his arm subconsciously moving around her shoulders.

"That's fair enough. I mean, we've waited this long, haven't we?" she asked trying not to dig up too many painful thoughts.

"Yeah, and that was because you wanted it that way. The only reason it was jarring coming from her was because… let's not talk about this anymore. Tonight, and every night going forward, I'm with you and you only." He turned to her, taking her hand and kissing it gently. "After all, we're stuck together forever now." He held up his left hand to show his wedding band. She smiled at him.

"Yep, I'm stuck with you now whether I like it or not." She held up her left hand too. "Forever and ever." She looked up, meeting his eyes and kissed him. And he kissed back. She moved to his lap to get more comfortable during their now rather intense make out session. However, he hadn't been expecting that, and so he actually fell over onto the bed, knocking the suitcases over and breaking them both out of their stupor.

"Maybe we should finish unpacking first…" Kazuto said, trying to hide his very obvious blush.

"Yes, definitely," Shino said, with just as much blush. However, neither of them moved as they just awkwardly stared at their luggage, packed and carefully folded clothes now currently sitting in heaps on the ground. Neither dared to make eye contact as Shino carefully removed herself from on top of Kazuto, and she was the first to start picking up their clothes in silence until she came upon something that made her burst out laughing, nearly causing Kazuto to jump out of the bed.

"What?" he asked suspiciously. Shino could barely contain her laughter before finally saying something.

"I… I knew… I knew it!" she said between breaths as she pointed to the garment on the floor. There, in plain view to both of them, sat a pair of Kazuto's boxers. A _black_ pair of boxers.

"Oh for…" he sighed, knowing full well he would never hear the end of this. He went and picked up the offending garment and started to sort through the rest of his things, placing it in the closet while Shino was still cracking up at this latest development. " You know, that is just _one_ pair of underwear. I have other colors you know," he said defensively.

"I know, it's just absolutely hilarious!" she said, finally calming down. "I made that comment totally at random! I can't believe I was right!" once she finally calmed down, she got to picking up the rest of her clothes and put them in the closet as well. "Wow, your wardrobe looks brighter already!" she teased, causing him to turn a darker shade of red. She smiled at him and pulled a few things from her side of the closet. "I'm going to go get ready for bed, you should do the same." She then took her clothes and toiletries bag and went into the bathroom. Once the door closed, Kazuto slumped onto the bed.

"Oh boy, what am I gonna do..?" he asked himself. "I have the woman of my dreams getting ready to share a bed with me, and I'm too paralyzed with fear to do anything about it." Instead of dwelling on this, he decided the best course of action was to follow Shino's advice and get ready for bed, which for him entailed wearing a sleeveless shirt and boxers, so all he really did was switch shirts. When he got into bed, it hit him again. This was the bed he was going to _share_ with Shino. This thought once again put his life decisions into doubt. _What if I snore and she can't handle it and decides to divorce me? What if_ _ **she**_ _snores and_ _ **I**_ _can't take it? I mean, I could put up with it—I love her after all—but for how long? What if-?_ The latch on the bathroom door releasing yanked him out of his dark cascade of depressing thoughts and caused him to look up. What he saw made his jaw drop.

There, in the doorway to the bathroom stood a VERY embarrassed, and red-faced, Shino, and Kazuto couldn't blame her. After all, the only thing she was wearing were black lace panties and a very sheer black nightie. With no bra. Kazuto could hardly believe his own eyes. He had always found her attractive, even when they first met, but this was the first time he had truly thought of her as _sexy._ He sat there in the bed in stunned silence until she spoke, bringing him back to his senses.

"W-well? What do you think…?" she asked quietly, putting her arm across her chest, obviously very much outside her comfort zone. "Rika said you would like it, especially, in her words, 'if you guys have some difficulty the first night.'" Shino fidgeted.

"I really like it, but you don't need to impress me. You look miserable in that thing." Kazuto patted the bed next to him. "Come on, let's just let this happen naturally." He smiled and she took the invitation and practically dove under the covers. She then snuggled up next to him.

"I love you, Kazuto," she said. "I just want tonight to be memorable…"

He smiled at this. "I love you too Shino, and I want the exact same thing." He kissed the top of her head and she looked up at him, and onyx black met steel gray. They shared a kiss, but it was different from the one before, more pure love than the last one they shared. Kazuto broke the kiss momentarily to turn out the light and allow them to have their first night together.


	5. The Honeymoon Part 2

A/N: Welcome back! So this chapter is again pretty much Warrior-san's work. It's mostly filler, but still good content. As usual, I only edited and filled in for some flashbacks (which were hella fun to write XD). Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 5-The Honeymoon Part 2**

" _KAZUTO!"_

Kazuto awoke to the very loud noise of someone shouting his name from the bathroom. He immediately flung the sheets off and ran in to said room.

"What?! What's wrong?" he glanced around the room, half-expecting Shino to be on the floor having slipped on the tiles or something. What he was met with, however, was a furious Shino standing in front of the sink and mirror in her bra and panties, examining her neck and upper torso. Which were currently covered in hiccies.

"KAZUTO!" Shino shouted once again, murder clear in her eyes. "LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!" she practically screamed, crossing the floor to both intimidate him and chew him out up close and personal. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE FOR THESE TO GO AWAY?!" She glared sharply up at her husband, who was currently trying desperately to think of a way to calm her down.

"Well, you weren't really complaining last ni- "

SLAP!

Turns out that was the wrong move, and he now had a bright red, hand-shaped mark on his face to prove it. Shino's slap sent him reeling into the bathroom door frame, and he just simply leaned against it, trying not to fall over. " _She's gotten stronger,"_ he lamented to himself as he rubbed the spot where she hit, recalling the several other times she's slapped him for being an idiot.

Shino, for her part, seemed to almost instantly regret her actions.

"Oh my god, Kazuto! I'm so sorry!" she hurried to him and cradled his head. "I was just so upset, and you just… kinda added to it…" she tried to apologize.

"I-It's okay, I was being a jerk and an idiot," he said with a smirk, and she playfully punched his shoulder. "Besides, you've slapped me for far less before." He chuckled.

"You're still on thin ice, mister. You're lucky we decided to get married in the winter, so I brought my scarf. Now get out, I still need to shower."

"Yes ma'am. Just save some hot water for me!" Kazuto called over his shoulder as he left the room and shut the door.

The rest of the morning was uneventful, as they took turns showering and getting dressed. They brushed their teeth together, which was a little weird for Kazuto because the only other person he ever brushed his teeth with was Sugu, and that was only when they were both running late to class. He looked over to Shino, who smiled at him through her toothbrush and toothpaste. He nearly spat out his toothpaste by laughing at her. After they spat and rinsed, Shino asked the killer question: "So, what are we doing today?"

He had no idea. He hardly ever planned this far ahead. "Uh…" he stammered, trying desperately to think of something.

"You have no idea, do you?" Shino deadpanned. She sighed. "Well, it's a good thing _someone_ looks out for us. And by someone, I mean Andrew."

"What do you mean?" Kazuto asked cautiously.

Shino went to the bedroom and retrieved two slips of paper. "These are two tickets to the Kyoto National Museum. Andrew got them for us as both a wedding present and as something to do on our honeymoon," she said by way of explanation.

"Wait, if they were our wedding gift, why wasn't I told about them?" he asked indignantly.

"Because he knew they would be safer with me and I didn't want anyone else thinking they needed to get us gifts so I just didn't mention them," she explained nonchalantly.

"Oh. That's fair enough, I suppose," he conceded, sighing. "Museum it is then."

"Aw, don't worry, I promise to let you pick what we do tomorrow." She winked, teasing him yet again.

"What have I gotten myself into?" he asked himself.

"The best damn thing you ever could have," she retorted, adjusting her scarf and looking in the vanity to make sure no hiccies were showing. Then she put on her glasses, and Kazuto raised an eyebrow.

"You're wearing your glasses? You haven't needed those in years," he pointed out to her as he too exited the bathroom.

"Yeah well, being somewhere new is kinda setting me on edge, which I anticipated, so I just want to wear them. Besides, they look good with this outfit, don't you think?" she showed off her outfit to him, and indeed the glasses made her look super cute. She was wearing a cute white dress that reached her thighs with black leggings underneath her usual tan pea coat. And, of course she was wearing the light blue scarf he got her for her birthday a few years before they started dating. Of course, now he understood why it was her favorite, but back then…

* * *

" _What's this?"_

 _Kazuto's chest clenched in slight apprehension as Shino stared down at the white box between his hands. He tried not to worry too much about how badly he thought he had tied the blue bow on top as he offered the box over. "I got you something."_

" _Kazuto… you didn't have to," Shino replied, voice soft as her hands reached out and took it. "I said I was fine not getting anything."_

" _Well, you know." The young man rubbed at the back of his neck now that his hands were free. "I would feel kind of bad if I didn't get you anything after you got me a model Excalibur for my birthday last time."_

 _He glanced out of the corner of his eye, watching her look at the box, surprise still prevalent in her irises. He couldn't detect any negative emotion other than that, so he figured he wasn't doing anything to get into her bad graces._

" _It's not much," he explained as she tugged at the ribbon, unraveling it and keeping it in her hand as she pulled the top off. "I saw it and I thought it suited you so…"_

 _He couldn't find any more words to say as she stood there, holding a powder-blue scarf delicately between her hands._

" _Kazuto…"_

" _I didn't get one with designs on it cuz I know you prefer simpler styles, but if you don't like it, I can—"_

" _Kazuto," she interrupted, a small smile tugging at her lips. "It's fine." Tugging off the scarf she was currently wearing, she handed it to Kazuto to hold as she wrapped the other one around her neck. It settled there comfortably, looking just right in its new home, the soft, cool color complimenting its wearer very nicely. "I like it. Thank you, you're really sweet."_

 _Kazuto suddenly felt heat crawl up his neck and to his ears for some reason. Not making eye contact and rubbing at his neck again, he mumbled "You're welcome. Happy birthday."_

* * *

 _Shino quirked an eyebrow as she walked over to the table, noticing Kazuto stare at her as she sat down._

" _Hello to you too. Why are you staring at me?"_

"… _That scarf," he began slowly, leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed as he pointed at her neck. "Isn't that the one I gave you for your birthday a few years ago?"_

 _Shino glanced down at it. "Yeah, what about it? Am I not allowed to wear things my boyfriend gets me for my birthday?"_

 _Kazuto blanched, detecting the slight hostility to her tone and automatically fearing what it could lead to. "Well, we hadn't been dating back then… but I still gave that to you a long time ago. I know you have nicer scarves, so why do I always see you wearing this one and not any of the other ones?"_

 _Shino's cheeks turned pink as she looked away from him and towards the window of the small café, hand reaching up to tug the scarf over her mouth in an attempt to hide herself. "I just like this one, ok?"_

 _Kazuto blinked, onyx eyes fixed on her curiously and making her feel somewhat smaller. She turned away some more, trying to keep the attention off of her, but of course, that only made it worse._

 _Slowly, her date grinned. "Is it because_ I _gave that to you?"_

 _Shino whipped her head around to glare at him, cheeks heating up. "N-No! Of course not! That's stupid!"_

" _Is it now?" Kazuto asked, elbow placed on the table as he leaned into his hand, lips set in a smug smirk. "If that's the case, then you must be pretty stupid. I remember Asuna gave you this really nice red and white scarf for Christmas one year that cost like 10,000 yen, and you only wore it that day before going back to this one. It must mean you're really attached to me or fell pretty hard for me if you like items you associate with me. Only love-struck, dumb girls—" He cut himself off, dark eyes suddenly landing on her jacket and widening in stunned realization. "What a minute, that's my—"_

 _Then Shino kicked him hard in the shin from under the table._

" _OW!" Kazuto yelped, automatically curling into himself and rubbing at his shin with both hands, forehead slamming into the table and drawing the attention of some of the other customers at tables around them._

 _The sheer amount of pain that had flashed across his face had almost made Shino feel guilty. Almost._

* * *

"Hello...? Earth to Kazuto? Kazuto, you in there?" Shino was currently waving her hand back and forth in front of his face, trying to get his attention. "I swear, you seem to space out at the worst times."

Kazuto snapped out of his stupor. "Huh? Oh, yeah sorry, I was just thinking about some of the fun times we had way back when." He chuckled, and she smirked at him.

"Yeah, like that one time Asuna thought she caught you cheating on her with me."

* * *

" _Kirito?"_

 _The Spriggan cracked an eye open, gaze automatically searching in the direction the voice had come from. A blue-haired Cait Sith flew through the air toward him, landing on his small, floating island with a graceful touchdown, golden wings fluttering briefly before they folded in and disappeared in golden light._

" _Hey, Sinon," he greeted, eyes opening fully so that he could meet her eyes, which were blinking down at him in curiosity. He was careful not to lift his head up too much as Yui was sleeping soundly on his forehead in pixie form. "I didn't know you would be logging in today."_

" _I found some free time," she shrugged, moving to his side and sitting comfortably in the grass next to him, legs crossed as she faced him. "What are you doing out here by yourself? If you were here on your own, I would have expected you to be out gaining XP."_

" _Well, normally, that would be the case, but I'm supposed to be meeting Asuna here for a date. She texted me before I dived in that she was gonna be late, so I'm waiting for her to get here."_

" _Oh," Sinon answered, crossing her arms. "But why just lay here doing nothing?"_

 _Kirito shrugged, looking up at the brilliantly blue sky with barely a cloud blocking his view. "Today's a nice day. I figured I should enjoy it while it's here."_

" _Are you sure you're not just finding an excuse to be lazy?"_

" _Yes!"_

 _Sinon chuckled, glancing up at the sky herself with a gentle smile. "I agree. It is a nice day."_

 _Kirito watched as she stared a moment longer. Then she turned to face away from him and leaned back, making him blink as she settled her head onto his stomach, using it as a pillow. For several seconds, he couldn't move, simply staring at her powder-blue hair, cat ears twitching slightly as she got comfortable. A notification popped up, saying this player was violating his personal space and was asking if he wanted to send her to jail, but he didn't press anything. He felt like he was frozen, like something about this position was somehow… different. But after a while, he relaxed, hand swiping to cancel the pop-up. Muscles uncoiling from taut springs, he breathed out a sigh and leaned back to stare up at the sky once again. Somehow, he felt that this "different" felt right, and that it was best for him to just let it be._

 _He hadn't planned on falling asleep, but apparently he did anyway, because about half an hour later, he was being woken up by someone screaming at him._

" _K… KI-RI-TO!"_

 _The Spriggan startled awake, blinking rapidly at the sky before lifting his head up, unknowingly waking the pixie on his head and making her hover in the air above him. As soon as he registered the murderous, long-haired Undine speeding toward him through the air with a rapier drawn, he gave a horrified scream of terror (a very manly horrified scream of terror, thank you) and made to sit up. Suddenly, a pair of indigo eyes blinked up at him, making him pause as he finally registered the weight on his chest. Sinon was looking at him, curled up against him with her ear hovering over his chest like she was going to sit up, looking curious._

Oh, no. This wasn't good.

 _At the same time, the two scrambled up, getting to their feet to face the raging fairy speeding toward them._

" _A-Asuna!" Kirito stuttered, hands raised in a placating gesture as the girl rapidly closed the distance between them. "This isn't what it looks like! We were just—!"_

 _Then Asuna yelled and thrust her sword through his chest with a flash of red light._

 _He didn't think it was possible to fly that far without wings._

* * *

"Heh, yeah…" Kazuto said nervously, looking for all the world like he was about to pass out from the memory.

"Calm down before you give yourself an ulcer." Shino teased before opening the door to their room. "C'mon, we gotta go or we'll miss the bus."


	6. The Honeymoon Part 3

A/N: New chapter. Same deal. But this time, we have a question: do you guys want another honeymoon chapter or should we just move on? Your input would be greatly appreciated.

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The Honeymoon Part 3**

Shino and Kazuto sat outside the Kyoto National Museum in a nice café right next to it. They had just had a nice day roaming the halls and looking at various art pieces. They even got the audio tour at a discount "because they make such a cute couple." Now it was nearly evening, and Kazuto was enjoying a nice spiced latte while Shino was drinking some green tea.

"You should totally try this latte!" Kazuto said, offering it to Shino, who simply shook her head.

"No thanks, I think I'll stick with my tea," she said as she smiled at his child-like pouting.

"Oh come on! It's so good, it needs to be shared!"

"I don't want the drink, but I will take some of the whipped cream off your hands." As she said this, she reached across and, before Kazuto could think to stop her, she swiped the drink from him and took a big lick of the whipped cream. What Shino didn't know was that this huge lick had gotten some cream on her cheek.

"Hold on, let me get that for you," he said as he deftly reached over the table and wiped the cream off onto his finger. He then proceeded to lick it from his finger, making Shino blush.

"You know, you could have just mentioned it and I would have gotten it myself," she mumbled, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Now how would we look like a couple if I did that?" he asked teasingly as he retreated back to his side of the table with his drink.

They both laughed at this and had a pleasant rest of the evening until it was time to get going.

"You can wait outside, I'm gonna go ahead and pay. Plus I need to use the restroom," said Kazuto.

"Okay, I'll be outside," Shino told him as she went out the front door.

Shino stood close to the entrance, but not too close as to get in the way, as she adjusted her glasses. Just as she did this, she saw three what could only be described as punks emerge from a dark alleyway. She could already tell they meant trouble for her, because she had noticed them earlier with her incredible eyesight. She knew they had been eying her up, she had simply chosen to ignore it in favor of spending time with her beloved husband (plus she didn't like emasculating her husband in public), but enough was enough. She marched across the street to give them a piece of her mind.

"HEY!" she said angrily.

"Yo girl, wassup?" said the thug with the wildest hair she had ever seen. Seriously, was his mother a porcupine or something?

"Don't think I didn't see you eyeing me up from across the street!"

"Oh, and you liked it so much you decided to ditch your date and come have some fun with us?" asked the one with a parrot-mother. "That wasn't very nice to him. But hey, I ain't complainin'." He said as he went to put an arm around her, which she pushed to the side.

"No, I just wanted you punks to know you should be ashamed of yourselves for checking out a married woman!" Shino was beyond furious at this point, she felt fit to burst.

"HEY!" came a _somewhat_ masculine yell from across the street. "Are you people bothering my wife?!"

Shino tried desperately to signal to Kazuto that she had it perfectly under control, but he was in his, as she and the others dubbed it, "Hero Mode" where all he saw was someone in trouble and the need to rescue said person. Shino nearly slapped her forehead in exasperation.

As for the three punks, they looked like they were on the verge of laughing. After all, here comes this scrawny toothpick of a boy, to defend his "wife" (they doubted as much) and the third one with probably a box for a mother grabbed Shino's arm. "Oh yeah, why don't you do something then?" he called out, but Kazuto stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw the anger in Shino's eyes.

It was over before he knew it. When his legs finally started working again, Kazuto had barely even registered the hissed curses and sharp grunts of pain before he finished crossing the street and met up with Shino and three incapacitated (possibly dead) hoodlums.

"You couldn't have saved at least one for me?" The look he was met with killed any humor in him, and he immediately wilted before her steely gaze. "Sorry. I should've realized you had it under control," he apologized.

The sincerity in his voice caused Shino's edge to come off almost immediately. She sighed. "Ah, it's fine. To be perfectly honest, I felt like kicking their asses. That one grabbing me just meant I had the legal justification to." She smirked at him. "Now come on, I'm tired. Let's get to our hotel room," she suggested (but honestly it was more like ordered) as she began walking, and Kazuto simply watched her in awe for a few steps until he replied with "yes ma'am." And they both walked to the bus stop arm-in-arm.

* * *

" _I'm afraid to die."_

 _Those words thrust a shard of ice into his chest, and he could only stare at nothing and listen to his own silence._

" _I try my best every day, but it still terrifies me. Sometimes, I can hardly sleep."_

"… _Death is something everyone fears to some extent."_

" _But I feel so scared, I feel like I'm being crushed," she answered, her voice quiet yet level as she gripped her knees to her chest and stared off across the water. "And it's over something so small. I feel so weak."_

" _You don't have to feel that way," he said, dark eyes glancing over at her. "I'll protect you. I'll stay with you and do my best to keep you safe."_

" _That's a bold statement." Her arms remained wrapped around herself, and she leaned her chin on them, staring at the rippling water below. "We all die eventually. Why not now?"_

 _His fist clenched against his leg, nails threatening to break the skin of his knee. "You don't have to die now. I promise. You don't have to die."_

 _Her mouth quirked up in a small smile. "Promises. Those are dangerous, you know. If you make one you can't keep, people get hurt."_

BANG!

 _Suddenly, he was kneeling on the ground with her in his arms. He stared in horror, chest constricted as he stared at her face, skin deathly pale and eyes dark with the light only she could see had faded._

" _Are you sure you can keep this one?"_

 _His hand trembled over her stomach, barely able to press down on the red seeping through her shirt, blossoming like a rose. He didn't know what to say; his mouth stumbled over air alone and it was getting harder to breath as her gaze grew distant, fixing on something he could never fathom._

" _Sh-Shino, wait—"_

 _Her mouth twitched up in a rueful smile. "Well, at least you tried."_

 _And then she shattered, her body spiraling past him in shards of frigid light. Suddenly, she left him alone, kneeling in the darkness, the nothingness left behind crushing him to dust._

* * *

"SHINO!" Kazuto screamed into the empty darkness of the hotel room, reaching out toward a version of his wife that wasn't there. When he realized this, he frantically looked around trying to find her, when his onyx met her steel.

"Kazuto, are you okay?" Shino asked, already sitting up and looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. "You were mumbling in your sleep, and I was about to wake you when you shot up. You nearly head-butted me," she said with slight bemusement, but the look of both terror and relief on Kazuto's face completely negated the teasing; she knew that look all too well. Her face fell. "Kazuto, what's wrong?"

Instead of a verbal response, Kazuto latched onto her… and started sobbing. Slightly stunned, Shino held his head to her chest, her fingers cradling his neck and running through his hair on instinct.

Instantly, she knew he had just had one of _those_ dreams, the ones where he relived some horrid part of his past or his past projected itself onto his future. She knew about them because she remembered back when they had first begun their relationship. It had just been like any other night, and she had been sleeping when her phone rang. She remembered feeling annoyed as she reached over to pick up her phone from beside her bed. But then she read the caller ID and answered, feeling concerned. The silence that greeted her only served to rocket up her heart rate and she called his name again… It only got worse when he choked out her name from the other end of the line.

She stayed up all night with him after that, giving him reassurances over the phone just so he could listen to her voice. She felt shaken herself, never having witnessed Kazuto like that before, but she steeled herself and chose to be there for him. Even when the night had gone by and she heard him fall asleep, she stayed on the line until he woke up again and finally brought himself to tell her what had happened.

She knew the best thing to do in this situation was to simply let him cry himself out and THEN ask him about it. Thankfully, these dreams seemed to be fewer and further between now… though this one would certainly not be the last. She knew that for a fact. She herself still had one every now and then…

Of course, back then, she wasn't lying in bed with him, hearing him mutter, feeling and seeing him twitch beneath the sheets. She knew they were bad, but she had no idea HOW bad they truly were. So, to make up for all the times she couldn't, she just simply stayed there with him, held him close to her until he was okay to talk.

Once Kazuto was done sobbing, he told Shino about his nightmare, like he always did, and she listened attentively, like she always did.

"Kazuto," Shino said, taking his wrist in her hand. "I want you to feel this." Gently, she placed his hand where he could feel her heartbeat. Naturally this was a little awkward for both of them, but Kazuto's bloodshot gaze did not waver from Shino's eyes, so full of kindness and compassion. "Do you feel my heartbeat?" she asked him. He simply nodded slowly, then looked at his hand. "So you know I'm still alive. And you know what else?" He looked back up at her, eyes questioning. "This is a heart that loves you, will never leave you, will take care of you in sickness and in health, and will always have your back." Kazuto smiled at this, the tear stains on his cheeks slightly glistening in the moonlight from the window. "So you tell me; do you think, even for a second, I would leave you like that?" And Kazuto paused, before shaking his head. "And I won't. Because, let's face it, you would be completely lost without me." Shino smiled a wide, goofy smile, one that didn't often grace her face but that she pulled just for him, and Kazuto couldn't help but chuckle at her doofy-looking face. "Good. Now then, let's get some sleep so we can enjoy the rest of our honeymoon, okay?"

Kazuto nodded as he laid down, pulling the covers over himself. Shino turned to face him and as she did so, he wrapped his arms around her gently this time and pulled her close to him to cuddle and (somewhat hoarsely) whisper in her ear "Thank you so much. I absolutely love you, so much it hurts sometimes." And Shino couldn't help but kiss him for that. She loved him so much it hurt sometimes too, and while she wasn't great at saying as much, she had her own ways of showing him. Him and the world.

* * *

A/N: Also, so you don't get mad, the dream was kind of based off Kirito's experience with Sachi, but very loosely. You can yell at me if you hate it, cuz I wrote it that way, but I added a twist to make it more Shino-esque.

Please leave a review below and answer our question!


	7. The Honeymoon Part 4

A/N: Ugh! We almost didn't make it! If you haven't figured it out, we're trying to update every Sunday. And that is surprisingly working out for me. At least so far... Well, since some of you asked, here is a bonus honeymoon chapter. Sorry if it seems choppy, random, or thrown together, but this was causing us problems. We hope you still like it though! After this, we should be moving along to another "chapter" of their lives (haha I'm not that funny).

* * *

 **Chapter 7-The Honeymoon Part 4**

Shino really should've seen this coming. It WAS Kazuto after all, but she didn't expect this…

* * *

" _Kazuto."_

 _The man barely stirred as his wife whispered his name. He remained asleep, his head tucked comfortably against her stomach, cheek just above her navel, and his arms wrapped almost possessively around her waist. His face was calm, peaceful, and relaxed, almost innocent like a child's. Seeing him that way made Shino smile and her fingers gently swept at his bangs._

" _Kazuto, wake up."_

" _Hmm," he groaned, stirring and curling tighter against her body, face scrunching and arms pulling them closer._

 _Shino rolled her eyes, then poked the center of his forehead with her index finger. "Ka-zu-to, get. up."_

" _Nooo, five more minutes."_

" _Don't be such a child," she chided lightly. "The sun is up pretty high already. It looks like it's almost noon."_

" _Don't care."_

" _Come on." Gently, she pushed at him, making the both of them sit up even at his whines and protest. "How do you feel?"_

" _Hmph. Tired."_

" _I can see that," Shino replied, lips twitching up at his drooping eyelids and slouched posture. Then she sobered slightly. "Are you better?"_

 _Kazuto's eyes lost their sleepy look. "Yeah. Thanks, Shino. I'm sorry if—"_

" _I'll have to stop you right there," she interrupted, raising her hand. The action made Kazuto blink as he looked into her metallic gaze. "We're married remember? This is what I signed up for: for better or worse."_

 _Slowly, Kazuto smiled. Then he put his arms around her and practically draped himself over her. "You're the best."_

" _Wow, you really are out of it," she grumbled. "But you're at least right about one thing."_

" _And so modest too."_

 _Shino attempted to push him off of her. "I'm stating a fact. Now come on, get up, you're crushing me."_

 _Her husband groaned again, but let go and fell back against the pillows. "Do we have to get up? Aren't we on vacation?"_

" _Yes," she answered, pushing the covers off of the both of them and swinging her feet to the floor. "Sleeping too much is just as bad as sleeping too little."_

 _She received a grunt in response, as Kazuto dragged a pillow over to himself and hugged it._

 _Shino rolled her eyes again. "Come on. Take a shower. That will wake you up. After that, I promise we'll do whatever you want."_

 _Slowly, Kazuto looked up at her, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Anything?"_

 _She gave a small nod. "Sure. It seems fair considering I chose what to do most of the time."_

 _And then, a small smile crossed his face, and Shino had a feeling she was going to regret being nice to him._

* * *

And so, here they were in Downtown Kyoto, with him dragging her from electronic store to electronic store, and with her standing around awkwardly off to the side as he ogled the merchandise like a kid in a candy store. Meanwhile she felt really out of place.

"Um, Kazuto, is this gonna be much longer?" Shino asked, trying not to let her discomfort get to her voice. Fortunately, Kazuto was only half-listening.

"Huh? Oh don't worry, I'm almost done here. Shino, come look at this!" he said running up to her and grabbing her wrist and pulling her over to a display of multiple different AmuSpheres and other VR equipment. Then he started talking all about how they were different, which one was the best, and so on and so forth, and Shino couldn't help but smile. While it was somewhat annoying to her when he started talking about stuff she didn't understand, she was glad he was feeling much better than this morning when it had been a chore to even get him out of bed. Him talking like this was a clear sign he was fine now.

"-and this one is supposed to more comfortable, but because they put that money into comfort instead of- Shino, you okay? You usually don't smile at me when I talk about this stuff." He chuckled. She frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, usually when I get to talking about this stuff, you either get this glazed-over look like you're only half-listening, or you just kinda scowl at me like I bopped you on the head or something."

"I do not!"

"Yeah, just like that!" he laughed, and she couldn't help but laugh too, both of them completely forgetting the night before.

After they had managed to draw the attention of the entire department, they both sheepishly walked out of the building hands intertwined and heading toward their next adventure.

* * *

Later that day, the couple sat in a restaurant adjoined to their hotel. It wasn't a very classy establishment (at least not like the one where Kazuto proposed) but it was exclusive enough to have low lighting and the feeling like they were relatively alone among the low murmurs of conversation surrounding them. It was a nice way to finish off their honeymoon.

"Kazuto, what did you guys do at your bachelor party?"

And then he was choking and spluttering on his champagne. "Wh-wh-wHAT?!"

Shino just continued to look at him with that default, deadpan expression of hers. "I was wondering what you did at your bachelor party. As your wife, I was curious."

"Y-yeah, but," he cleared his throat and coughed awkwardly. "I feel like bachelor parties and stuff should have like a code or something: you don't talk about fight club."

"We're married now, so there are no secrets. Unless, of course, you think those secrets could endanger our marriage?"

Kazuto turned green. "No no no no no!" he protested quickly, waving his hands in front of himself to exaggerate his point. "Th-that's not it at all! It's just—"

"Yes?"

That glint in her eyes was definitely not a good sign that he was out of the safe zone. He swallowed. "Well…"

* * *

" _Klein, I thought we agreed to no actual parties."_

" _Come on! Just this one thing and I swear that's it as far as parties go."_

 _Kirito simply looked at him, eyes half-lidded in a tired, disbelieving expression. "This better be or else I'm not putting you in charge of anything ever again."_

" _I seriously swear this is it!"_

" _You're lucky Kirito gave you a second chance after your first screw up," Agil said, arms crossed over his chest. "For your sake, it better be."_

" _You guys have no faith in me. You have no idea what that does to a guy's ego," Klein lamented. "This will be fun."_

" _Mm-hmm," Kirito answered, sitting down in one of the many chairs surrounding the coffee table. They were currently sitting in one of the many inns in Alfheim, in the main city by the foot of the World Tree. Kirito wasn't really sure what they were doing or why they would need to rent space in an inn, but knowing Klein, it couldn't be that good. Before this, they had just been playing ALO as promised, but then Klein started getting all worked up and excited. And that was never a good sign._

" _Alright! Prepare to have the best time of your lives!" Klein cheered, fist in the air._

 _Then he went and opened the door._

" _K-KLEIN!" Kirito yelled standing abruptly from his chair, red-faced. He heard a girl shriek loudlyl, but realized it was just Recon in the corner. "WHERE DID YOU GET ALL THE VIRTUAL STRIPPERS?!"_

" _Hehe! A man has his ways," Klein answered, slinging an arm around Kirito's shoulders to watch the show as it unfolded. "If you want, I'll tell you all about it."_

 _Kirito purposefully looked away, still slightly red in the face and looking horrified. "KLEIN, IF SHINO FINDS OUT, I AM DEAD!"_

* * *

Kazuto sat at the table in embarrassment, choosing to look at the table instead of his seething wife.

"So. Looks like Klein and Lisbeth were in cahoots."

Her choice of vocabulary almost made Kazuto laugh, but he decided he liked keeping his limbs so he just asked. "What do you mean?"

For a second, she was quiet, not exactly looking at him but not exactly looking away either.

And then it dawned on him. "Oh…"

Silence reigned between them, neither willing to speak or make eye contact. Then, Kazuto started chuckling. Soon after, Shino joined him, and then they were laughing so loud, some of the other patrons were staring at them.

"Ha, I won't judge if you won't," Kazuto laughed.

"Ok. Deal," Shino chuckled, hand covering her mouth, though it was starting to sound like a giggle now and Kazuto thought it was really cute (but he wasn't about to voice that and risk shattering the violence-free moment they were sharing).

Pulling himself together, Kazuto reached across the table and took Shino's hand. "Besides, you know the only one I would want to look at is you."

Staring at him, Shino blushed and looked down at the table. "D-Don't say stupid things like that."

"Well it's true. And admit, that made you happy."

There was a beat of silence, before Shino glanced up at him again. Her steely gaze made him regret opening his mouth and he considered cutting his losses and throwing himself into the river now. But then she glanced away again, her hand gripping his tighter, and Kazuto grinned.

This marriage thing was the best decision he had ever made.


	8. Home

A/N: Next chapter! Sorry this took a while, but we had to take an off-week because we were super busy. My life was especially hectic, let me tell you. But anyway, here you go! The honeymoon arc has officially wrapped up and we are moving on to other things. Even with the extra week, we were still rushing to get something down, so sorry if it seems ify like the last one. But anyway, enjoy! We did our best.

* * *

 **Chapter 8-Home**

The honeymoon came to a peaceful end with another peaceful train ride back to Tokyo. The newly-wedded Kirigaya couple spent the time enjoying themselves and possibly bickering about every little thing like whether or not they should buy crystal or china sets for their future dining room or whether or not Kazuto was allowed to have a "man cave." In the end, they arrived home unharmed (relatively) and perfectly refreshed for the next chapter of their lives together. And that chapter started off by moving in with Kazuto's family.

While it would seem ideal for newlyweds to buy their own house and live alone, Kazuto and Shino both agreed that it would be best to save money before actually making the move. While they both actually had jobs and could potentially afford decent residency, it was better to be safe than sorry for insurance reasons.

For the first several weeks, they were very safe and very happy in the joint Kirigaya household; Shino and Kazuto integrated their lifestyles there perfectly and the rest of the Kirigaya family seemed to get along very well with the new addition to the family (to Kazuto's delight). Everything was perfect, really. But, of course, it wouldn't be completely blissful all the time knowing this couple.

* * *

Shino rolled over, trying to block out the few rays of light coming through the blinds. This, in turn, woke her husband, who was now laying behind her.

"Hmm… good morning." He mumbled into her back, tickling her skin. He then pulled her close and started kissing her shoulder blade. "Are you wearing one of my shirts again?"

Shino lightly squirmed against the somewhat unwanted attention. "Maybe," she replied breathily, "but we really shouldn't be doing this this early in the morning—We might wake Sugu!" she hissed trying desperately to fight the losing battle.

"Knowing her, she's already awake and downstairs," Kazuto replied, intentionally letting his breath brush past her skin, knowing full well she wouldn't be able to resist that. And boy was he right.

* * *

 _A few hours later_

Shino walked downstairs in her PJs to get some breakfast.

" _Who knew Kazuto would be so frisky this morning?"_ she thought to herself as she opened the fridge. _"But I suppose he's not the only one. I gave in to him after all."_ She smiled at the thought of how tender he had been with her this morning as she grabbed the milk and went to the cabinet to get a bowl. As she turned around from there, she noticed for the first time a VERY red-faced Sugu, who was simply staring at her own breakfast. Shino froze.

"Um… good morning…?" Shino said, trying desperately to break the silence. Suguha, on the other hand, simply sat there, seemingly very interested in her cereal.

"Sugu, you okay?" she asked, trying to coax the younger girl out of her stupor, but she simply would not look at her sister-in-law. As Shino pondered this, she put the hand with the bowl on her hip, and the cold touch of the ceramic suddenly alerted her to the problem. She forgot to put on pants. She looked down and realized the other problems with her wardrobe. She was still wearing one of Kazuto's dressier shirts, which was mostly unbuttoned. And there was nothing but her underwear underneath.

"Ah…" was all Shino got to say before Kazuto's aunt and uncle walked into the kitchen. Luckily, before Mr. Kirigaya got to see much, his wife covered his eyes and Shino quickly sprinted back to her shared room with Kazuto, shutting the door rather loudly to awaken her still-sleeping husband.

"What the…?" he complained, looking up blearily from his pillow with barely a turn of his head.

"We need to get our own house." Shino stated matter-of-factly.

"What? Why…?" he whined. "I thought we were going to wait on that as long as possible so that we could save money?"

"That may be true, but I'm fairly certain I just shocked your sister into a catatonic state and gave your dad an eyeful just before his wife covered his eyes." She gestured to her state of undress. "I would rather NOT run the risk of that happening again," she explained as she went to their now shared closet to find something more suitable to wear.

Slowly, Kazuto lifted his head and looked over at his wife. "…You did what?"

"I flashed your family."

"Oh God," he moaned, face reddening before he smothered it in the pillow.

"Exactly. So when and where are we moving."

"…I'll figure something out." Kazuto pushed himself upright to face Shino, who was now wearing black shorts and a dark blue t-shirt with "UTokyo" written in gold across the front. He watched as she turned to face him, arms crossed and face attempting to remain neutral. But he could see the faint, pink tint to her cheeks.

A smile stretched across Kazuto's face. "Hey. C'mere," he beckoned. He watched from the edge of the bed as Shino looked at him, eyes flitting to the floor every now and then. Slowly, she walked over to him, arms still wrapped around herself until Kazuto could reach out and take her hands in his. "It's ok, ok? They're family and they won't change their opinion on you over one small mishap."

"…You sure?"

"Absolutely. They'll get over it quick enough. Probably." His fingers received a threatening squeeze for that, and Kazuto tried to laugh through to pain as he continued. "I was just kidding! They still love you, I promise."

Shino sighed, eyes staring at something only she could see as she considered his words. Still pouting (as Kazuto liked to think), the ebony-haired woman moved between Kazuto's knees and sat on his leg, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing her cheek on his shoulder. Smile widening, Kazuto wrapped his arms around her waist, thumb rubbing circles on her hip. For a few minutes, he simply let the moment be, giving his wife some quiet before he kissed her temple and finally spoke again.

"Now come on, let's go apologize."

Lifting her head, Shino blinked at him. "You mean both of us?"

"Well yeah," Kazuto said, smile turning a bit bashful. "You have to admit, I'm partly to blame for what happened."

"Right," his wife agreed, a smile of her own pulling at her lips. "But you should probably put on some clothes first before we go out there. I don't think Sugu wants to know what you look like in just your boxers."

"…Right. I'll get on that."

Not long afterward, the couple left their room and made their way down to the kitchen/dining room area where the other three Kirigayas sat eating breakfast.

"So, uh, everyone," Kazuto said after he had cleared his throat, "we want to apologize to you for that incident earlier." On cue, both of them bowed.

"I'm sorry," Shino apologized, forcing herself to look at them. "I didn't mean to act inappropriately and ruin your breakfast."

"Ruin?" Mrs. Kirigaya asked. "Honey, it's all right. If anything, we're pleased."

In sync, the married couple blinked at her. "…What?"

"Well, for the most part," Suguha added, her face now a healthier color compared to earlier. "We could tell you didn't mean to, so we understand… but at least we know how much you and Onii-chan love each other."

"Just be careful not to let that happen again. Alright?" Mr. Kirigaya interjected. "Of course, you're married, so things like this will happen again, but—"

His wife cut him off with an elbow to the ribs.

"D-Dad!" Suguha shrieked, looking mortified and like a tomato once again.

"Uh, w-we'll get our own place soon, so there's nothing to worry about." Kazuto tried to hide his own reddening face and bowed again.

"Just take your time dear," Mrs. Kirigaya mollified. "You are and always will be welcome here, so there's no rush."

"Thanks, mom." Her son gave a soft smile. "Well, for now, we should probably just start with breakfast."

"Agreed," Shino piped in, feeling her stomach beg for food. She was about to walk into the kitchen for her own cereal when she abruptly stopped, stared at the fridge, and turned around. Her bowl was still in their room.

* * *

"So where should we move to?" Kazuto asked, scrolling through his laptop as he sat against the headboard of their bed.

"I would say an apartment. Somewhere nice I can come home to that's close to the academy."

"An apartment sounds nice," her husband agreed, mind briefly wandering to her mention of "the academy." He had known for a while that Shino's dream was to become a police officer and maybe even a detective someday, but now that she had finished up college with her Criminal Justice degree and was applying to _the Police Academy…_ it was a lot to take in. It was a big step, especially for her, but it was brave, and he was proud nonetheless.

"I hear a 'but' coming," Shino stated, carefully looking at the screen from his shoulder.

" _But_ I don't want to go all out on an apartment. We should still save money in case, you know, we might want something… bigger."

There was a moment of silence, one in which the both of them were considering the implications of that comment.

"Bigger sounds nice. Someday," the girl whispered. "But for now, anywhere together is perfect, wouldn't you say?"

"True," Kazuto turned to place a chaste kiss to her lips and grinned at her widely. "Anywhere with you is a perfect home to me."


	9. The Academy

A/N: Hey! Been awhile... Sorry about that. School's been super hectic for me and I found no time for this at all, but I'm on break now, so my goal is to write as much as I can. But anyway, for this fic, we found a new method for collabing so things should run smoother. Hopefully. I hope this long chapter makes up for us being MIA.

Also, for those Americans out there, Happy Thanksgiving! As for everyone else.. I don"t know. Have a good week?

* * *

 **Chapter 9-The Academy**

"Unh—there. That's the last of it," Kazuto sighed as he set the box down. Then, without further ado, he turned and fell to his back on the floor, thoroughly exhausted.

Smirking slightly, Shino walked over from the piles of boxes spread around the sofa and sat cross-legged beside him. "You didn't carry that much. You shouldn't be this tired."

"Yeah, well I'm sorry we chose to live on the fourth floor of the building."

"We barely had anything to take up here," Shino countered with a slight roll of her eyes. "Besides, this was our best option." Turning herself around, she leaned back against Kazuto, using his stomach as a pillow.

He didn't seem to mind as he subconsciously began to play with her hair. "You're just not all that upset about it because you're not gonna be around to unpack it all."

"I'll only be gone twenty weeks," the ebony reasoned. "The Academy won't take very long."

"That's five months." There was a pause. Shino could feel Kazuto's fingers pause before he continued. "Why did you have to choose to go off so soon? I mean, I'm proud of you and I think this is great, but… you're going to become a cop and we just only recently got married. I just wish we had more time first."

Shino breathed quietly. Lifting her hand, she reached up and took Kazuto's free one. "I know. I almost didn't sign up because I wanted time to settle down with you first. But you know this has been a dream of mine for a long time. I need this."

"Yeah, I know you do." Kazuto shifted slightly, prompting Shino to sit up as he propped himself on his elbows to look at her. "I'm gonna miss you is all."

The woman smiled. "I'll miss you too." Leaning forward, she felt an arm slide around her waist right before she kissed her husband. When she pulled away, she could tell she had lightened the mood by the brighter glint to his eyes. "But hey, I'll be here to help for today at least."

"Do we have to start now?" the other asked, lying flat again and throwing an arm over his eyes. "I'm still tired."

"Well, that depends on how much help you want."

There was a pause in which Kazuto thought it over, their new living room leaving ample silence to do so.

"…Sixty seconds?"

"No, get up."

Kazuto groaned as Shino pulled him up, and soon they were both on their feet. The woman smirked at her husband as he stood there, looking tired and like he could barely care any less right now.

"Come on. Once we find the cooking-ware, we can make lunch with some of that pork your mom gave us as a goodbye present."

"…Good idea." And just like that, Kazuto was off rummaging through boxes and setting their various possessions out on the table.

Rolling her eyes, Shino went to join him. _Food is always the way to go with him._

* * *

"Do you really have to go?"

Sighing, Shino set her bag on the ground and turned to look at her husband. "Yes, Kazuto, I have to go."

"Well what am I supposed to do for five months?" he whined, leaning against the doorframe moodily as he looked at her out in the hallway. "Am I just supposed to eat, sleep, and cook meals by myself while you're gone?"

"Is that the only reason you want me around?" Shino asked, her eyebrow raised as she stepped closer to him.

"Well, not the _only_ reason," Kazuto muttered. At this point, she was standing directly in front of him, so he placed his hands on her hips partially out of habit. "I'm gonna miss having my best friend around. It's gonna be lonely in here."

"Don't worry, I'll call every day, even if it's just to say goodnight."

"You don't have to call _every night._ I know you'll be tired most of the time. You can just text me."

"If it comes to that, I will. But do me a favor, Kazuto, and try not to get too lonely between the sheets while I'm gone."

"Stop making this worse for me, you make me want to chain you to the bed or something." There was a slight pause in which they looked at each other. "I did not mean it that way."

"Sure you didn't," Shino answered, eyebrow raised.

"I didn't!"

Stooping down, she picked up her bag again and pulled it onto her shoulder. "You take a joke way too seriously."

"And you take everything I say way too dirty. Not every sentence that comes out of my mouth is an innuendo."

"But you do say them."

"Stop taking everything so literally! You know I don't purposefully take the time to make perfectly timed innuendos!"

"This whole conversation became an innuendo."

"And I give up."

Shino laughed at this point, heart twinging slightly at the thought that it would be awhile before she could mess with him like this again. But it wouldn't be too long, she knew that.

"Are you sure I can't take you there?"

"Yes. I'm sure," she answered matter-of-factly. "You need to go to work and taking me to the academy will make you late. We both know this job is really important to you."

"Yeah but…" he began, gaze flicking to the floor. "You're important too, Shino."

Shino gave a small smile and kissed him softly. "You're important to me too, which is why things need to be this way, ok? I'll be back before you know it."

"Yeah, ok… Love you."

"Love you too," she answered, and they both gave a small smile before leaning in for one last kiss and separating. "I'll call Yui on the bus and we'll all talk later tonight, ok?"

"Looking forward to it. Kick ass in police school, ok?"

"You know I will." Shino grinned at him confidently before making her way down the hallway. "I'll see you when I get back. And our apartment better be spotless by then."

"Yeah, yeah, see you," Kazuto answered, waving her off dismissively. But the two of them smiled just before Kazuto went back inside and Shino reached the stairs.

* * *

The Police Academy was pretty much everything Shino thought it would be. It was just the first day, so there was just really a lot of yelling, name-calling, and physically extensive exercises, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Shino had made it a habit in her college days to jog every morning and eventually go to the gym three times a week, so she was decently fit. Plus, it wasn't like she couldn't handle a few people yelling at her—she had been through worse and there were plenty of vocally aggressive people in VR. But she knew this was only her first day. It would only get worse from here.

"Hi, Auntie Sinon!"

Shino smiled at her phone screen, dark gray eyes locked onto the bottom half that read "Audio." "Hey, Yui. How are you?"

"I'm great! How are you?"

"Fine," Shino answered with a shrug. "School isn't that hard." Taking advantage of the brief pause in the conversation, she glanced up at the top half of her screen, and her small smile twitched a bit wider. "Hey, you."

"Hey." Kazuto waved, similar smile adorning his face as he looked at her through the screen. "How's it shakin'?"

Shino had to stifle a laugh in her throat before she could continue. "'How's it shakin'?'"

"I was trying to contribute something different to the conversation. Sue me."

"Yeah, well, it's 'shaking' just fine. How are you guys holding up without me?"

"We can handle ourselves for now," Yui chimed in before Kazuto could do more than open his mouth, "But I think Daddy will have a hard time without you."

"Thank you for that vote of confidence," said male sighed, making Shino chuckle at his expense. "But I'm doing just fine. I can cook and stuff so it's not like I'll starve or anything."

"Good, then I must have trained you well." Shino smirked, watching his face turn deadpan and devoid of amusement. But she didn't really care. "How's work?"

"Fine," Kazuto answered, expression becoming a bit livelier at the mention of his "life's passion." "I made some great progress on that program I was writing. But then, you know, everyone else was having problems with their stuff so I had to fix everything."

"Of course. My favorite nerd, always willing to help other people with their nerd problems."

"Hey, you married me," he retorted smugly and continued before Shino could say anything else. "So, what exactly do you _do_ at the Police Academy?"

Shino frowned at him sternly, but he barely seemed phased. "Endure a lot of psychological attacks and physical labor. You would have literally died."

Kazuto didn't even miss a beat. "True. Which is why I didn't sign up for that."

The ebony rolled her eyes, slightly disappointed that he didn't take the bait. "If it were VR, you'd be up to the challenge."

"Yeah, if it were a videogame, I would have rocked it. But it's not and I'm completely ok with that."

"Ooh so mature."

"Thanks. Glad you noticed."

There was a moment in which they simply smirked at each other before continuing.

"I'm definitely going to miss diving though," Shino lamented. "I wish I could do that while I'm here, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't allow that."

"That's ok, we won't have too much fun without you," Yui assured. "Daddy's just diving to check in on me so we can spend time together. And don't worry! I'll make sure to keep a close eye on him!"

Shino could imagine Yui giving her a faithful salute and smiled. "Thanks, Yui. I appreciate that."

"Well I don't," Kazuto replied dully. "I am perfectly capable of restraining myself from cheating on my wife." He seemed to immediately regret his words as he saw Shino's face. "Uh, not that I would ever do that or think of doing it, but—"

"Yui. Stay glued to his side at all times."

"Yes ma'am."

It was at that point that Kazuto put his head in his hands as he realized what a grave he had dug for himself.

Rolling her eyes, Shino briefly glanced at the clock at the top of her screen. "Well, it's almost light's out. I'll try to call you guys again tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok. Goodnight, Auntie Sinon! Get a good night's sleep!"

"I will," Shino said with a smile. "Goodnight, Yui. Night, Kazuto."

"Night." The man gave her a warm smile. "Love you. Don't miss me too much."

"I should be saying that." She rolled her eyes again. "I love you too. I'll call again tomorrow."

"'Kay. Night."

"We just went through this, stupid. Goodnight."

"Bye, Auntie!"

Significantly more uplifted now than she was before the call, Shino tapped the "end call" button on her screen and that was it. That was, until her bunkmate leaned over the side and started whispering to her.

"Was that your family?" Izumi asked. Shino blinked.

"Um… yeah, they wanted to make sure I got settled in and stuff…"

"Well good. So was it your brother, or..?" she said as she climbed down onto Shino's bunk.

"Um, husband actually. We just recently got married." Shino was a bit surprised at the brashness of this girl.

"Oh, sorry. I assumed with the way that girl called you auntie and him dad… so, is she from a previous marriage of his, or..?" she was clearly trying to tread carefully, but Shino was just upset that her conversation had been listened in on, much less that this girl she barely knew was now trying to pry into her personal life. But, since they would be bunkmates, doomed to share almost everything anyway, Shino figured it wouldn't hurt to share a little.

"I guess you could say that… it's a bit complicated." she said, trying to drop hints that she didn't feel like talking about it.

"Well, we have five months together, might as well start sharing now."

For a long moment, Shino simply looked at this girl, bottom lip between her teeth as she thought it over. _She does have a point…_

"Alright… Well, long story short, he was in a relationship before and that's his daughter-"

"Wait, so you're his mistress?"

Heat instantly flushed to Shino's cheeks. "N-no! We started our relationship after he broke up with her."

"Ah. Well, please continue."

"Right... Well, she's adopted, but I don't mind. We got along fairly well before me and Kazuto started dating."

Izumi nodded, looking comfortable as she sat cross-legged on Shino's bunk, head resting on her hands as she listened intently. "Well that's cool. My dad now married my mom when I was nine after she had a nasty divorce with her first husband. I mean, I still love my biological dad, sorta, but my step-dad is cool. He's part of the family and treats me like I'm his real daughter."

Shino blinked. "Really? And you're ok with that?"

"Yeah." The other girl shrugged. "What I learned from him is that being a parent has nothing to do with blood. My advice: just be there for her. As a part of her family, that's the best thing you could do."

Shino could only stare at her for a moment. Not that it wasn't welcome, but she hadn't expected this conversation to turn into parenting counseling. "Uh, thanks."

"No problem." She received a smile. "We'll be bunking for the next five months. Least I could do."

Just then, someone yelled "lights out in five!" and people moved to get in their bunks.

"Well, that's my cue," Izumi said, scooting from the bed. "Good luck with your daughter situation."

"Thanks," Shino answered, watching as her company left to get back to her own bed. She hadn't really expected to be chummy with people considering who she was and where she was staying, but this made her somewhat happy. Making friends wasn't completely out of the picture.

Somewhat smug, she removed the glasses from her face, gently folded the arms, and set them on the table behind. Then, she leaned back into her bunk and pulled the covers over herself. Soon after, the lights had gone off, and she was fast asleep.

* * *

Things got steadily busier as the days went on, and it was harder and harder for Shino to find time to call Kazuto and Yui. She spent all day working out, training, and studying everything the teachers threw at her, leaving next to no time for personal endeavors. At this point, she could only either text before bed or call to get a few words in before she was forced to hang up and go to bed either by her commanding officer or by her husband who could easily read how tired she was. It was grueling work, but she was getting by all right. It made her feel luckier to have such an understanding family.

And the best part was, every night, without fail, the least she would get was "I love you. Good night," and that was more than enough.

* * *

"Wait, you _what?!"_

Shino sighed, briefly closing her eyes as she repeated herself. "Yes. I was Tasered today."

Kazuto looked equal parts stunned and livid as he stared at her. "What the hell?! Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It was part of my training. I'm not dead, so don't worry."

"But they _shot you full of electricity!_ How is that ok?!"

"Police trainees are often required to experience the effects of a Taser during their training to psychologically and physically test if they can handle being out in the field. It is perfectly safe," Yui explained sagely. "But you are ok, Auntie, right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little sore." Shino tried not to make it too obvious as she rolled her shoulders. She had always heard about how _shocking_ getting stunned by a Taser was, but hearing about it would never compare to actually experiencing it. But she supposed she was grateful for the experience. For one, it had been in a controlled environment where she could get hit and be prepared in case it happened in the field and wouldn't be caught too much by surprise. In the end, it had done her some good.

"I see why they would do that," Kazuto conceded, looking reluctant with his arms crossed. "But I still don't approve."

"I know you don't," Shino said, expecting nothing less of him. "But you don't have to worry about me. This program isn't designed to kill anyone. I'll be fine."

"Yeah… I know. And I know that you can take care of yourself. But still be careful, ok?"

Seeing him look so worried over her made Shino smile a bit. "I will."

* * *

The closet door slammed a bit louder than Shino had intended. She winced, but tried not to dwell too much on it as she flicked on the incandescent lightbulb and sighed. Her dark eyes briefly glanced around the room, somehow taking comfort in the small space it provided before pulling out her phone and calling a certain number. It was seconds later that he picked up.

"Hidematsu, I swear, if it's a problem with the network again and you haven't checked the router I will personally throw Mari's cactus into your cubicle!"

Shino blinked. "Um, Kazuto?"

There was a brief pause. "Shino?"

The girl watched as her husband pulled his phone away from his ear to glance at the screen and discover he was on a video call. "Oh, sorry. Hey, Shino."

A small smile quirked at her lips. "Hey. Having work issues?"

"As always," he sighed, leaning back into his chair tiredly. "But, hey, what's up? Why are you… wait, hold on a sec." Kazuto glanced around, obviously checking to make sure there was no one eavesdropping on him before he got up and started to walk.

Shino watched, contemplating whether or not she should ask what he was doing, but thought better of it and simply waited patiently. It wasn't long before he had opened a door into an echo-y room and sat down in what was obviously a stall.

"…Are you in a bathroom?"

"Yeah."

"So, for privacy, you brought me into the men's bathroom with you and locked us in a stall. And now you're sitting on a toilet."

"Oh, calm down. It's not like I'm actually using it. Besides, it was the only way to hide my call with my hot wife from my coworkers without looking too suspicious."

"Well, you'd look shady regardless. You're a pretty shady character."

"Yes, I am aware," Kazuto sighed. "Anyway, what's up? It's the middle of the day, why are you calling." It was then that his onyx eyes had fully looked at his screen and his eyebrows furrowed. "Are you in a closet?"

"Uh… yeah."

"Why? Is something wrong?" The amount of concern in his voice was touching, but Shino didn't want him exploding on her.

"It's nothing really. I'm fine."

"Well something obviously happened," Kazuto replied firmly, but his tone was in no way harsh. "You look a little pale. Come on, you can tell me. Nothing coming from you will ever just be 'nothing' to me. What's going on?"

There was a pause. Shino didn't speak immediately, opting to instead study the face of the man who was now her life-companion. She paid special attention to his eyes, dark yet comforting, solid, giving off that familiar vibe of determination and encouragement.

Sighing, she began. "It's just… We started training with firearms last week."

"…Are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah," Shino nodded, shifting against the wall so that she slid down and sat on the floor. "I'm fine. I guess it just wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, seeing and holding them isn't the problem. I've pretty much gotten over that… but using them is a different story. I'm not as accurate as I should be. And my hands—whenever I'm about to pull the trigger—they're just so shaky and I can't… ugh." She groaned, angry at herself and thoroughly put out. "Maybe I just shouldn't do this."

"Don't feel so down," Kazuto encouraged immediately. "You can actually hold a gun now, that's more than enough reason to be proud. With just a little more practice, you'll be able to show those guys just how much of a badass you are."

Shino smiled briefly. "Thanks. But that's not all." She almost expected him to speak then, to prompt her into saying more, but he just sat there, silent and patient, and she continued. "The point of this is to teach us how to use them, but it's also a test. Becoming a cop means having the guts to pull the trigger if the situation calls for it. In short, we have to be willing to kill… and—and I'm not entirely sure…"

"I read up on this," her husband said, sounding pragmatic. "This part of your training isn't really to gauge whether or not you're brave, it's just to help you figure out what kind of person you are. That means it has less to do with how brave you are and more about what kind of person you are. Some people just can't find it in themselves to pull the trigger should the situation call for it, and that's perfectly ok. The job requires that you make tough calls like that, because it could mean a life, so it's important that you find out whether you can do it or not now while it's not life threatening. And that's something only you can decide for yourself." Watching him, Shino saw his mouth form a soft smile. "Personally, I think you'd be a great person either way, and I'll support you no matter which way you go, but make sure you're making decisions for yourself based on what you can handle, ok?"

There was another pause, one where Shino thought through his words carefully before speaking again. "I get that. And you're right, I should know what I'm capable of and make my decision based on that… But I also know that becoming a police officer has been an important goal of mine, so I want to pursue that as long as I can."

Kazuto grinned. "Great. I know you can do it, show those amateurs how a boss does it."

His attitude made Shino smile. "Thanks, Kazuto. You made me feel better."

"No problem. What are husbands for?"

" _Kirigaya?"_ Suddenly, another voice came from Kazuto's end sounding a bit distant as it bounced off the bathroom walls. _"Is that you? What are you doing?"_

"Uh…" The man flushed slightly. "I'm taking a phone call!?"

" _In the bathroom?"_

"It's personal! Give me a sec!"

" _Ooh. Is it a lady friend?"_

Shino's smile had widened by the time Kazuto turned back to her. "Sorry, I gotta go. Call me later, ok?"

"Of course I will. And Kazuto?"

He paused, looking at her expectantly.

"I love you."

Despite his recent embarrassment, he smiled. "Love you too. I'll talk to you later."

Then the call ended, leaving Shino alone again in her tiny closet. But it was different now. She felt different. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and brushed herself off. She felt more confident now. She could do this.

And with that thought, she turned and left the closet, the lights turning off with a sharp click.

* * *

"And what did I tell you? Like a boss."

Shino tried not to let Kazuto's grin become contagious as she walked up to meet him, though she couldn't completely stop her lips from twitching.

Meanwhile, Kazuto was beaming with pride, having long acknowledged the crisp, blue uniform that his wife was wearing and the shiny badge she had clipped to her belt. "You graduated the Police Academy top of your class. Not bad at all for a badass."

"Congratulations, Auntie!" Yui's voice cheered from her dad's phone.

"Thanks, Yui," Shino said with a smile. "I'm glad I got through it and can go home. It was thanks to your support."

"Glad we could help! And now that you can come home, you can log in and we can all celebrate!"

"I look forward to that. I've missed everyone," Shino replied, and she meant it. Going five months without any gaming was somewhat draining. She hadn't had her usual outlet in all that time.

"That better include me," Kazuto cut in pointedly.

"Hm. Eh."

"What do you mean _'eh'?"_

The girl chuckled lightly. "Don't be a drama queen. You know what my answer is."

"It better be what I think it is," he answered moodily, making Shino laugh a little more. To appease him, she finally went to give him a proper greeting and quickly kissed him. For a moment, he just looked at her. "What? That's all I get?"

"Well, that depends."

Shino watched as his eyebrow went up. "On what?"

She made a point to place a hand on her hip, fingers splayed about her waist. "Don't you have anything to say?"

There was a patient wait involved, but finally, he came up with an answer. "Uh, hi? How's it been? Long time no see?"

A thin eyebrow raised on her forehead. She would have thought, after all this time, he would have been better at interpreting flirtation and sexual cues. Wasn't it an understood rule that a person in uniform was attractive?

"…Nice outfit?"

At this point, Shino could only roll her eyes and start walking away toward the parking lot. After eight years, you would have expected him to have learned by now.

"No, wait. I got it."

She could hear him jogging slightly to catch up with her, but she didn't bother to change her pace for him, even when he was walking beside her and matching her strides.

"That's a nice outfit you have on there," he began, and for a second, Shino was wondering where he was going with this because it sounded no different from the cluelessness he had showed before.

And then he was really close.

"But do you know who it would look better on?"

She had half a mind to take offense and slap him right then. But then he whispered in her ear:

"The floor."

That made her stop, her cheeks heating slightly as she turned to look at Kazuto, who was smiling at her somewhat innocently. Ok, so maybe he had upped his game just a little bit while she had been gone.

Discreetly straightening her posture, Shino turned her head toward him, putting him under a scrutinizing gaze. "I guess that's something we'll have to see about…" Subtly, but not enough that he wouldn't notice it, she eyed the tux he had worn to her graduation ceremony. "The same could go for you too."

And there it was, the subtle rise of color to his ears. It made Shino smirk. Yeah, that's right, she could play this game too.

Smug, she took his hand and pulled him across the grass, taking a certain amount of enjoyment as he squirmed all the way to their apartment. Once they arrived at said apartment, they were practically ready to rip each other's clothes off and have a very heated night of passion, but there was one problem with that plan. As they stepped inside, already sucking face, they quickly separated when they felt how hot it was in the apartment.

"Kazuto, I love you, and I want this as badly as you do, but it is way too hot, I gotta change." Shino said as she slightly gasped for air, going to the bedroom to change. Kazuto quickly followed to check the AC unit.

"Uh-oh…" was all Shino heard as she stripped out of her dress blues and hung them up. She turned around.

"What?" she asked, understandably irritable.

Kazuto turned around sheepishly. "The unit's broken…"

It was a minute before Shino said anything, and in all that time, Kazuto feared for his life.

"...You do realize I am licensed to carry a gun now, right?"

"Uh, yes?" Nope, his voice definitely hadn't gone up an octave.

"And you remember what I said about our apartment being spotless, yes?"

"Well, it's technically spotless… I put everything away?"

"Yes but that includes _being fully functional!"_

"I-I'm sorry!" he immediately apologized, seeing the glare she was giving him. "I'll make it up to you, I swear!"

"Hm. Well you better." And just like that, she stalked out of the room, and Kazuto was pretty sure he was getting nothing after that.

Yeah, he really needed to find a way to make it up to her.


	10. Beach Day

A/N: Hey, everyone, we're actually on schedule this time! And yes, as you can see, this is the really cliche beach chapter that is basically in every anime and fanfiction fan-base everywhere. But you know what, we don't really care because these chapters are written a lot for a reason: they're fun.

By the way, obviously, by content in this and later chapters, we have nothing against the LGBT community. If you do, get out.  
So with that being said, due to information we gathered from the manga and such, we have deemed this content appropriate (it's not anything explicit, don't worry, you'll see what I'm talking about).

* * *

 **Chapter 10-Beach Day**

In the morning, Kazuto and Shino woke practically glued to each other. With their sweat.

"Ugh, Kazuto, I love you, but get off…" Shino whined at her aforementioned husband.

"Ugh…" Kazuto slowly unstuck himself from his wife with the sickening sound of flesh peeling from flesh. "You mean the AC DIDN'T magically fix itself overnight?" he joked, earning a glare from his wrathful wife. "Got it, call the repairman." he said, quickly getting out of bed as Shino laid spread-eagle on the bed, barely moving and clothed only in her underwear. He quickly made his way to their living room.

Shino meanwhile laid on the bed, feeling awful. Not only had she denied Kazuto any last light, she also denied herself. If only it wasn't so hot, they probably would have barely slept last night. Just thinking about what they would've done suddenly made Shino's eyes go wide and her cheeks red. She immediately buried her face in the pillow, but couldn't keep it there for long due to the heat.

"Kazuuuuuuuttttttooooooo…" she whined. "It's so freaking hot… when is the repairman supposed to get here..?" Kazuto walked in, clicking "end call" on his phone and looking grim.

"He said he couldn't make it out until tomorrow."

Kazuto cringed, expecting Shino to explode on him for being stupid, but she merely groaned, allowing him to relax if only a little bit.

"You know what this means, right?" she asked him flatly.

"Nothing tonight either?" he answered quietly. She simply looked up at him and glared.

"That's not what I meant. But yes."

"Ok... And what?"

"Beach day."

* * *

Kazuto felt the familiar sensation of diving into ALO, then the weight of his favorite sword against his back, its golden hilt glinting in the digital sun. He looked to his right and saw his both digital and IRL wife materialize next to him, and smiled down at her.

"Hey there, beautiful. I forgot what you looked like with blue hair."

She glanced up at him, somewhat amused. "So what, you think I should get it dyed this way?"

"Well, I mean, if you really wanted to I guess I can't stop you."

There was a pause and Sinon seemed to contemplate it. "Hmm, no. I feel like that would be boring. I like the idea of it looking different wherever I go. Anyway, it's a pain to actually dye hair."

Kirito shrugged. "If you say so. Hey, Yui, we're here."

On cue, a little ball of light appeared in the air, and just like that, a little girl appeared like she had jumped out of it, arms outstretched. "Hi, Daddy!"

Effortlessly, Kirito caught her out of the air, spun once, and set her down. "Ready for our day out with everyone?"

She smiled brightly, arms held tightly around Kirito's waist. "Mm-hm! Mommy even helped me pick out an outfit!"

That made the other two blink. "Really?" Sinon asked.

"Yep. She's downstairs with Auntie Liz right now. Do you want me to tell them you're here?"

"Yeah, that would be great, Yui, thanks."

"Ok!" After a quick hug with Sinon, Yui practically skipped to the door. "We'll be down there waiting for you. Don't take too long."

Kirito looked at Sinon, and they both couldn't help but laugh at their daughter's antics.

"I guess we better hurry then," Sinon chuckled, leading the way to the door. "Can't keep them waiting."

"Yeah that would be a bad idea," Kirito agreed, following close behind her.

"I'm surprised though."

"About what?"

"Asuna. But in a good way. I'm glad she came today; it means she's ok with this arrangement."

Kirito briefly thought back to their wedding day, at that moment just before when he and Asuna had finally come to an understanding and had some closure, and he felt himself smile. "Yeah, me too. I'm glad this is working out for her."

As they walked downstairs they noticed some of their other friends stepping out of their respective rooms and heading toward the living room. Even though this cabin had once been Kirito and Asuna's it, had sort of become a home for everyone and an understood place to meet in-game. It had become more than just the home they had had back then.

When the couple reached the bottom of the stairs, they caught sight of Yui in the middle of the room, sitting with Liz and Asuna just like she had said. Noticing them, Yui waved enthusiastically, signaling for them to come over, but as Kirito walked closer, his gaze remained on Asuna. Now that he remembered the wedding, he couldn't stop thinking about it. It was pretty much the only thing he hadn't told Sinon, wasn't it? And they had agreed to have no secrets. Well, in light of that, he'd be more than willing to tell her all about it… it just wasn't exactly his secret to tell.

 _Maybe I just shouldn't say anything,_ he thought, now sitting next to Sinon, opposite of Yui and Asuna. If he told Sinon just like that, it wouldn't be right to just go against Asuna's trust like that. It was technically her secret… but he didn't feel comfortable keeping something like this from his wife.

 _So I could just ask if I can tell her...? Yeah. I should do that._ But now wasn't the best time because literally _everyone_ was around to overhear him.

"Kirito."

The sudden nudge to the ribs startled him, and he almost fell over off the couch. "What, sorry?"

Sinon gave him a weird look, but let it slide. "It looks like everyone's here. Ready to go?"

"Sure, but what about your friend… What's her username?"

"Mizumi will fly over and meet us. She's still kind of new and hasn't had the chance to move very far beyond her territory yet."

"And you convinced her to play, what, over a month ago?"

The Cait Sith rolled her eyes. "Yes, but not everyone is a professional geek like you who can master the mechanics of a game just by reading the instruction manual."

"Games have manuals for a reason," Kirito countered. Only half joking.

Sinon, in return, tried to keep herself from smiling beyond the twitch of her lips. "Well, come on, nerd. We all logged on for a reason and I would hate for everyone to feel disappointed."

"Yeah, beach party!" Klein exclaimed, seeming a little too enthusiastic as he was already dressed in swimming trunks. "My AC's out too, so I've really been looking forward to this."

"You just want to see all us girls wearing bathing suits." Lisbeth grinned over at him from her seat next to Asuna, arms crossed knowingly.

"I-I do not! As a respectable samurai, I don't take pleasure in such things."

"For the last time, you're not an actual samurai."

"It's a game! I can do whatever the hell I want!" And with that, he ran towards the front door, threw it open, and launched himself into the air.

"At least wear a shirt while we're traveling there!" Leafa protested, plainly exasperated.

Silica sighed. "Well, that is Klein. But he has a point, I really want to go to the beach too."

"Yeah, come on!" the pink-haired fairy cheered, grinning. "I bought a hot suit that I'm just dying to show off!"

Leafa quirked an eyebrow. "Didn't you just say something about Klein coming just to ogle us?"

"Well it's true already, but it's not like he won't get beyond looking. Besides, it's not a crime to look cute, is it?"

"I guess not."

"Hurry up, ladies! We're losing daylight!" Liz yelled, before leading the charge out the door and into the sky.

Kirito considered saying something about him, a male, being present, but he figured he'd just get backtalk, and possibly some form of physical violence from his wife, so he remained silent. While he was brooding, Yui, in pixie-form, zoomed up to him and landed in his pocket.

"Come on, Daddy, we're going to get left behind! Ow, stop! I said that was annoying."

The Spriggan smiled as he continued to gently poke Yui's head. "If you really think so, why do you let me do it?"

"Hmph," she answered, puffing out her cheeks. "You just don't stop."

"Hey, Yui. Could you do me a favor and stay with Sinon for a bit? There's something I need to ask Mommy."

Blinking, Yui looked up at him, eyes wide with curiosity. "Ok. But only because it seems important." Flying out of his pocket, she went up to Kirito's cheek and left a quick kiss. "Good luck!"

He gave a small smile. "Yeah, thanks. I might need it."

The Spriggan watched as the little pixie flew across the room towards Sinon, said something to her, then slipped into a pocket at her waist. Eyebrow raising, the Cait Sith turned to her husband, who gave a small smile as he ushered her to go ahead. She continued to look at him, but simply nodded after a while and left the cabin with the others. Kirito took off, not far behind them, launching straight from the deck and into the sky. He couldn't help but smile slightly at the feeling of flying through the air again. The wind rushing by him felt so great and the view was breathtaking. It was made even better with the knowledge that he could do this within his own power, but he couldn't relish in it for long. Glancing ahead, he saw Asuna not far from him flying just behind the others. With a burst of speed, Kirito sped toward her, flying by her side in a matter of seconds.

"Hey, Asuna," he called, making her look to the side at him. "Could we fly together for a while? There's something I need to talk to you about."

The Undine blinked, but gave him a nod of consent. "Sure. Is it something serious?"

"No. Well, yes. Don't worry, it's not like end-of-the-world bad. I just need to ask you something."

"Oh, ok. What is it?"

Purposefully, Kirito slowed down a bit, and Asuna followed suit. "I wanted to ask if I could tell Si-Shino about what happened at the wedding." He watched as Asuna's eyes widened, and he could see a bit of what could have been panic in them, so he went on to explain. "I wouldn't tell her unless you were ok with it, which is why I'm asking, but I'm hoping you'll say yes. Now that we're married, Shino and I promised to have no secrets between us. This is the only thing I haven't told her, and the idea of keeping it that way makes me uncomfortable."

For a moment, Asuna remained silent, and Kirito glanced at her every now and then in between watching where he was flying.

"...Ok. You can tell her. You should."

Slightly surprised, Kirito looked over at her, and saw her flash him a small smile.

"Thanks for asking me first… I understand why you would want to tell Shino about it, and I agree."

The Spriggan felt a smile slowly pull at his lips. "Thanks, Asuna."

"No problem. Now go."

He gave her a quick nod before, with a burst of speed, shot forward in search of the company of a certain, blue-haired Cait Sith. She wasn't far. It only took Kirito ten seconds to reach her and easily fly at her side.

She obviously noticed his presence, as a few seconds later, she glanced at him with a small smile on her lips. "Hey. So tell me, what were you and Asuna talking about?"

"Uh…" He really shouldn't have been surprised that she caught on fast or got right to the point, but it still sent him for a loop regardless. Glancing around quickly, he found Yui, still in pixie form, laughing as she rode on the back of Pina. Good, one less thing to worry about. Now he could speak freely.

"You're very perceptive."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere," she teased. But not really.

Kirito sighed, but a knowing smile pulled at his lips. "Right. Well, anyway, I was asking Asuna to give me permission to tell you something."

Slowly, Sinon narrowed her eyes which was dangerous to any person it was directed at (which was pretty much always Kirito). "Tell me what?"

"Ah, well, it-it's nothing terrible! I've remained completely faithful to you, I promise!"

"Mm-hmm."

"It was just about something that happened at the wedding… Before the ceremony, she told me she still had feelings for me. She didn't act on it or anything. I think she just wanted closure. That's it really."

Hearing that seemed to make Sinon relax (and Kirito too by extension), and she looked ahead again into the distance. "...So what did you say?"

"What?"

"What did you tell her after she confessed?"

"Oh… I told I wasn't in love with her, but I still love her. I could never hate her because she meant a lot to me in SAO, but…"

"But?" she prompted, and Kirito felt himself color slightly.

"You make me happy, and I want to be with you, which is why asking you to marry me is the best thing I've ever done."

It was silent for a moment as Kirito anxiously awaited her answer. But then he noticed that he was flying _alone,_ and he suddenly stopped and looked around. A shock of powder blue and a gold glow caught his attention behind him. With a prick of concern, he flew back, slowly and carefully until he was right in front of her.

"Shino?"

Her indigo eyes flicked up to him, irises swirling with thought behind them. "You actually said that?"

"Um..." The Spriggan rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah. I did."

"...You dork. Who's manly now?"

Kirito flushed, glancing at her and wanting to object, but he was abruptly cut off by the feeling of Sinon's lips on his. The kiss lasted for about ten seconds, but it was sweet and meaningful, and when Sinon finally pulled away, her hand gently gripping his arm, he simply stared at her, unable to say anything.

The archer was smiling softly at him, and her hand slipped down his arm and into his hand. "I feel like flying together now," she stated simply, and then she was pulling him forward, considerably more slowly than before, but fast enough to get to their destination without their wings wearing out.

Still stunned somewhat, Kirito glanced at her out of the corner of his eye every so often. But despite that, he felt a warm glow in his chest and never once made to take his hand from Sinon's.

* * *

When they finally arrived at the beach in Undine territory, everyone had already changed and were in the water.

"Where have you two been?" Lisbeth shouted over at them with her hands cupped around her mouth. "Don't tell me you guys made a detour just so you could make-out!"

Both of them flushed, but Kirito was the one who yelled back "Shut up, Liz!"

In answer, she stuck her tongue at him and grinned, then went back to her apparent water fight with Leafa and Silica.

Ears still burning slightly, the Spriggan glanced back at his wife who rolled her eyes good-naturedly and smiled at him. "So, want to go in the water first or what?"

"Hmm. I think I just want to sit here for a while and enjoy the fact that I'm not burning to death. And that I'm with you."

Sinon scoffed, turning away from him as if annoyed, but Kirito could see the blush creep up her neck and that made him grin.

"By the way, where's Mizumi?"

"She should be here." Sinon looked thoughtful as she pulled up her menu with a swipe of her hand and went to her messages. "See? She said she just left Spriggan territory fifteen minutes ago."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

Blinking, the couple turned toward the new voice and were met with a Leprechaun. She had long, lavender hair tied up in a ponytail and eyes that matched in color. She wore purple pants, though they were a darker color, and a sarashi bound around her chest. A naginata was strapped to her back, the slightly curved blade almost scraping the ground as she walked toward them. She wasn't much taller than Sinon, and that was apparent as she came to stand next to her.

"I had to stop and rest a few times and I may or may not have been attacked by monsters."

"Well you seem able to take care of yourself," Kirito commented, briefly eyeing the weapon at her back and appraising it. When he looked at her again, he was somewhat startled to find her staring at him emotionlessly.

"Hey, my eyes are up here."

"I-I wasn't-I mean, I'm married!"

"Ooh, so this is your guy, hm?" Mizumi asked, glancing sideways at Sinon. "I guess I should have known considering he looks the same as on your phone."

"Mm-hmm," the Cait Sith answered, though she was looking at Kirito suspiciously, "but if he keeps being a perv, he might end up looking _differently_ irl."

" _I was looking at her naginata!"_

"Right," the purple-haired girl deadpanned.

"...Weapon perv."

"Sinon!"

Said girl smirked at him. "You should know by now that you can't win."

Kirito groaned loudly, hunching over in defeat. Then he glanced up at her, staring at her with a thoughtful look on his face. "...Borderline lesbian."

"...WHAT?!" Sinon practically screamed at him, face flushing slightly as she glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

The Spriggan kept a cool expression as he looked at her. "I'm pretty sure I've never seen you with any other guy except me. Plus, before we got married, you seemed to only want to hang out around other girls. We even met with me using that girly avatar and _acting_ like a girl! I'm pretty sure that makes you _at least_ borderline lesbian."

"Well how is that my fault?! You're the one who had that avatar and decided to play it up! And anyway, I'm not the guy who was mistaken as Suguha's _sister_ when he was younger!"

"WHAT?! How did you know that?! _Suguha!"_

"Ooo! Lovers' spat!" Liz yelled from the water, obviously enjoying herself.

"SHUT UP, LIZ!" The couple shouted, obviously not enjoying themselves, but the pinkette simply started cackling and that only served to anger them more.

They would have continued screaming again if Mizumi hadn't started chuckling beside them. "Just kiss and make-up already, guys. If Sinon's lesbian then just be lesbian together."

Kirito blinked at her. "I'm a guy."

"Not from what I just heard. But hey, your identification is your problem. Besides, you guys obviously love each other enough for that not to matter. Now are you going to introduce me to everyone or are we just going to keep standing here and watch the sexual tension increase between you two?"

Instantly, the couple's faces turned bright red, and Mizumi blinked at them.

"Wait, did you two not…?"

Sinon refused to look away from the sand. "The AC broke when we got home…"

The Leprechaun stared at them. "So you two have been dry for five months?"

Kirito also seemed to find the sand very interesting to look at. "Yes…"

"Well, what are you guys doing here? Go get a room or something."

Suddenly, the dark fairy coughed into his hand, turning his back on his new "acquaintance" and facing the group. "Anyway. Guys, this is Mizumi, Sinon's friend."

The slightly taller of the two girls smirked and offered everyone a mock salute. "Hello, everyone. Great to meet you."

"So you're a Leprechaun?" Liz asked as she walked up. "Nice. I think we'll get along nicely. Especially if you like torturing these two because that is my favorite pastime."

Glancing at the still flustered couple, Mizumi's smirk widened and she looked back at Lisbeth. "Yeah. I think we'll be great friends." She started walking towards the beach. "I'll leave you three here to settle up."

The trio watched her back as she left, but only briefly before the married couple turned with stern looks.

"Why."

"Why what?" Liz asked, batting her eyelashes innocently.

"Why is it that you live to antagonize us?"

"Ooo. Had to break out the big words for this, huh, Kirito?"

"LIZ!"

"Oh, lighten up," she dismissed, waving her hand nonchalantly. "Today is supposed to be for fun and messing around, get your panties out of a twist." A vein pulsed in Kirito's temple, but he didn't say anything as the pinkette walked passed them towards the water. "But hey, at least I made nice with your friend. Now go have fun. But not too much because some of us are more innocent than others. And this is a public beach."

Neither Kirito or Sinon bothered to reply, instead opting to either sigh or roll their eyes.

"She's not wrong though," Sinon said, making her husband look at her. "Today is supposed to be like a mini-vacation; we shouldn't be using it to fight."

"You're right," the man conceded. "Let's just go sit and relax so we can enjoy ourselves."

"Agreed. But we're not necessarily done with this argument."

"Definitely not," Kirito muttered with a slight scoff. "And I still need to have a discussion with _Leafa_ about privacy."

Sinon barely stifled a snicker. "It's still funny."

The Spriggan groaned. "I would very much like to go relax now."

His wife chuckled in spite of their recent "spat," but didn't comment as they walked to some chairs underneath an umbrella to experience said relaxation. However, as they drew closer, they noticed their friend Klein doing some of his special brand of "flirting".

"H-hello! My name's Klein, age 29, and I'm single. I'm a samurai Salamander but in real life I have a decent-paying office job!"

Mizumi looked stunned, staring at Klein like he had two heads. "Um, ok. I'm Mizumi. Nice to meet you?"

The Salamander's head shot up from his steep, bowed position. This was a first. His greetings had never been accepted this well before. "Uh, yeah, n-nice to meet you t-" Suddenly Klein exploded into ice blue crystals, and his avatar was replaced by two words; **CONNECTION LOST**

Mizumi blinked. "What just happened?"

"Well, it is hot irl," Kirito began as he and Sinon walked up to her. "Maybe his computer or his router overheated."

"Sorry about him," Sinon apologized. "He tends to hit on every girl he comes across."

Mizumi chuckled lightly. "No, it's ok. That takes guts. I admire that."

Kirito blinked. He had never heard a girl show any interest in Klein. "Wait, you mean you actually think he's okay?" he asked.

Sinon looked slightly bemused. "You should've seen what happened the first time he tried to hit on me," she said.

* * *

"Hurry up and get here, Kirito," _Sinon thought to herself as she sat in the corner of a shop. It belonged to a Gnome named Agil, as Kirito had told her, and it was where she was meeting everyone in ALO for the first time. While she had had a brief experience of meeting some people in Andrew's bar in the real world, she was well aware she was meeting even more people and it was outside of her usual home turf: GGO._

 _Which is why she would have appreciated it if the one who had actually_ invited her _would show up. Being around this many people she wasn't familiar with was setting her on edge. Just then she saw someone approaching her table, a Salamander, by the looks of it, with spiky, red hair tied back by a bandana and a katana at his side._

 _She tried not to squirm too much as he came closer, keeping her arms and legs crossed in a way that somehow made her feel a little more at ease._

" _H-hi. Are you Kirito's friend? The one he went to go help in that other game?"_

" _Yes. I'm Sinon. It's nice to meet you."_

" _Yeah, nice to meet you too," he said, voice strained by something the Cait Sith couldn't quite place. Then, out of nowhere, the man bowed extremely low and held out his hand. "Well, I'm K-Klein! I'm 24, single, and I have a job that pays for my apartment and stuff so I'm not just some guy in his mom's basement!"_

 _Sinon blinked, indigo eyes blown wide. She had no idea how to take this. "Uh, ok."_

" _No, I'm serious! I'm a decent guy and I think you're pretty, so I was thinking maybe we could go hang out sometime? But it doesn't have to be IRL, it can just be in here or something."_

 _Sinon couldn't help herself, she scooted her chair away just a little. "N-no thanks. I'm flattered and everything, but-"_

" _Please, just give me a chance?!" Klein straightened up slightly, taking a step forward and practically begging. " I'll even pay for whatever we go do and there'll be no strings attached! Just this one date and-"_

" _I said_ no!"

" _Agh!" Klein yelped in agony as, before he knew it, Sinon had stood up and grabbed his hand in a death grip and twisted back. In an instant she stepped forward, bringing her foot behind his knee and shoving him back so he fell to the floor. Klein fell with a loud_ thump _and an 'oof,' eyes squeezed shut at the pain. Then he heard the clack of metal and opened his eyes again, only to widen them at the sight of his own sword pointed at him. Next moment, he was yelling in pain again as the weapon was shoved through him and into the floor._

" _H-hey, wait a minute!" he pleaded, still shocked as he tried to pry his katana free but couldn't so much as pull it an inch. He couldn't move. "Ok, I'm sorry! That was a mistake. I shouldn't have-WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!"_

 _Sinon was glaring down at him, sharp eyes narrowed past the sight of her bow and down the shaft of her arrow, right at his face. And without a word, she let the arrow fly._

* * *

Mizumi laughed out loud at the story she was just told. "You did what?" she said between fits of laughing.

"Yeah, he learned real quick I wouldn't put up with that." she said smiling deviously. Kirito, however, went pale.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." he said to his still terrifying wife. She snickered.

"Oh Kirito, you've been on my bad side plenty of times. I just take my anger out on you in different ways." both girls laughed as, impossible though it seemed, Kirito got even paler. "Relax, I won't take off anything important." this comment caused another round of laughter at his expense, coupled by him turning a bright shade of red. Suddenly Sinon looked as though she had just remembered something.

"Kirito, do you remember what day it is tomorrow?" she asked. Kirito pulled up his menu, clicked on his calendar and looked.

"Uh-oh…" he said out loud.

"What?" Mizumi asked.

"Tomorrow's the deadline to register, isn't?" Sinon asked Kirito, seemingly ignoring Mizumi.

"Yep." he answered. "What do you think? Spectate or participate this year?" he smiled, knowing her answer already.

"Well, after three years, I think it's time I remind everyone just who I am." she smirked with a slight glint in her eye. Then she looked to her husband. "And you too, of course." she added, widening her smile. Mizumi, however was at a loss.

"WHAT IS TOMORROW THE DEADLINE FOR?!" she practically shouted, drawing the attention of nearly everyone on the beach. Sinon and Kirito simply smiled at each other as they simultaneously replied:

"The Bullet of Bullets."


	11. Guess Who's Back

A/N: Hey, we're back again! I don't really have much to say about this chapter... it should just speak for itself then, I guess. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 11-Guess Who's Back**

Sinon materialized in her apartment high above the skyline of the _SBC Glocken._ It was nice to be back in GGO, if only for a little while. She and Kazuto had purchased this penthouse apartment with their winnings after the last time they won together. Of course, they hadn't been dating yet, so Kirito was forced into the guest room. She smirked as she remembered that particular conversation.

* * *

" _So remind me again why we're buying an apartment?"_

 _Sinon didn't even glance at Kirito as the elevator moved them up. "Because, while I like this game, I would prefer to stay somewhere that didn't smell like oil and smoke all the time."_

" _Yeah. Yeah, I get that," the male answered, staring out of the wall of glass panes that separated them from the outside as they rose. "But why are we buying one_ together?"

" _Practicality," the sniper replied simply. "My winnings from the BoB would have more than covered the cost of an apartment, but that was before I bought new equipment, and that is always a priority to me. And I know you bought stuff too, so the only way we can get the nicest place on the market is if we pool our money together."_

" _But do you really need the_ nicest _place? I am honestly fine with just a nice one, and those cost less. But if you really wanted_ the _nicest one, I'm sure with your skills you could-"_

 _The cold muzzle of her Glock was suddenly pointed under his chin._

" _Listen," she hissed. "I have had my eye on this apartment for_ years. _I am not letting it slip by me when we are so close to paying for it. Now. You will help me buy this apartment or I will take you to the top of this building and shoot you off of it. Understood?"_

 _Kirito looked pale now, and his hands slowly raised in submission. "Uh, s-sure, Sinon. Yeah, whatever you want."_

 _The sniper's eyes narrowed, staring him down even though he was taller than her. Seeming satisfied, she slowly removed the gun and holstered it, turning to face the doors of the elevator with arms crossed. "Good. You're also getting the guest room."_

" _What-?"_

 _Suddenly she was glaring at him again, blue eyes cold as ice._

" _Cool! I wanted that anyway."_

 _The elevator shuddered to a stop and the doors ground open with a 'ding.' Smirking slightly, Sinon sauntered out of it, leaving Kirito to cautiously follow suit._

* * *

And so, poor Kirito was once again defeated by the fairer sex. She laughed out loud to herself, not noticing Kirito walk in and stare at her like she lost her marbles.

"Uh, is there a joke I missed or something?" he asked tentatively, knowing full well his wife would have no qualms about actually shooting him now. But all he received was a glance from her and then another bout of laughter, which slightly irked him. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up. 'Kirito looks even more like a girl in this avatar! Hahaha!'" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I've suddenly remembered why we stopped playing this game…" he grumbled. Once Sinon calmed down, she looked at him, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Oh, Kirito, you really should've knocked. Then I could have prepared myself." she said, still chuckling slightly.

"And why would I need to knock to come into what should now be the room I now share with my wife?" he questioned.

"Because we're not actually married in this game yet." she smirked at him. "Which means I'm still free game. Maybe after we register I'll hit up a club, see if I can get some poor, witless idiot to follow me home." seeing that her work was done, and rather well by the pale look on Kirito's face, Sinon decided to let him off easy this time. "I promise, after we get registered, we will officially get married." she said, watching a look of relief wash over his face. "Now c'mon, we need to get there before it closes." she saw Kirito open his mouth. "And no, we are not taking one of those three-wheeled death machines." and the mouth closed. She passed by him as she walked out the front door, closely followed by him.

The _Glocken_ was still as dirty and oily as Kirito remembered it, if not slightly more so. While he was desperately trying not to touch or be touched by anything or anyone, Sinon seemed to be practically thriving in her old stomping ground. While he actively avoided the smelly gunsmiths, she ran up and took a big ol' whiff.

"Oh, Kirito, isn't it great to be back?" she almost sang. "The smell of the oil, the dirt, the grime, the _characters!_ " Kirito chuckled to himself at his not-yet-wife's antics. "Oh man, I missed this place." Kirito relished in Sinon's genuine happiness, the bright smile on her face causing him to smile as well. He called up the menu and called them a taxi to the governor's office. When it arrived Sinon pretty much hopped right in, whereas Kirito was a bit more hesitant once he saw the state of the interior.

"You in or out, kid? I ain't got all day." said the gruff taxi driver NPC.

"Yeah, c'mon Kirito! The meter's running!"Sinon barked at him. Reluctantly, Kazuto slide into the backseat next to Sinon, who was uncharacteristically giddy. Once he closed the door and the taxi started moving she burst into the biggest, but also the scariest smile he had ever seen her wear.

"This is gonna be good." she said, sporting one of the most sadistic grins he had ever seen on her.

"What is?" Kirito asked.

"This BoB, of course!" she answered somewhat indignantly. "Think about it! All those competing will think they have a shot, right up until they see our names on that board!" and for the first time since coming here, Kirito felt a little bad for their competition. Just a little though.

Once they reached the governor's office, they both registered for the BoB, intentionally leaving their address and real names off the sheet. They still didn't feel comfortable putting that there, no matter how much the moderators had beefed up security. then , when the little banner saying "congratulations!" popped up, they headed for the area where players got married in-game.

* * *

The couple thought it was weird that a whole lot of people were staring at them as they walked into the "chapel." Was it so weird that they were walking into the place to obviously get married? Well, then again, maybe it was, considering their relationship hadn't exactly been broadcasted and there wasn't some official announcement as some of the more popular players liked to do for publicity. People were probably just surprised that _the_ Kirito and Sinon were a couple and were actually getting married.

"They're staring," Kirito hissed out of the corner of his mouth to his soon-to-be-wife- _again._

"Yes, I know. But don't act weirded out; people in this game can smell fear."

 _...Well that explained some things._

Trying to heed his knowledgeable companion's advice, Kirito trained his face to remain neutral and simply stared straight ahead, conscious of every step he made as it echoed along with Sinon's. It took some effort to ignore the noise.

But then he felt the back of his neck prickle with heat as a man with an M16 slung across his chest walked up to them.

"Hey, you guys are Sinon and Kirito, right? Like _the_ Sinon and Kirito that won the third BoB? And like, the fourth and fifth ones too?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Kirito caught Sinon smirk smugly. "Yeah, that's us."

Some awed sounds came from the crowd around them, and Kirito just knew they were fueling Sinon's ego and excitement to be back.

"You guys have been gone for three years." The man sounded amazed himself, but seemed to shake him out of his thoughts and back on track. "So, in that time, you guys got together?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?" Kirito asked, arms crossed as he glared, suddenly feeling defensive.

"N-Nothing!" the man instantly protested, looking adequately scared for his life.. "It's just that we're all a bit surprised."

Sinon nudged Kirito in the ribs and addressed the man. "I suppose that makes sense. We just came back and suddenly we're getting married. I would be a little surprised too, if I were you."

"Right… but to be clear," he said, looking somewhat nervous and maybe a little like he was dreading what was going to happen next. "You two are lesbian?"

Silence filled the room. Kirito and Sinon stared at the man, his words slowly seeming to click in their minds as, slowly, their faces flushed crimson. The small crowd that had formed didn't dare break the spell that had fallen over them, simply staring at the couple and anxiously awaiting their answer.

It wasn't until Sinon had stepped toward him and taken his arm that Kirito realized Sinon was smirking and opening her mouth to speak.

"Yeah sure, why not. So what if we are?"

She might as well have fired Hecate II in the air because the room suddenly exploded. Mostly it was yelling, people either collapsing onto their knees in dismay or sobbing into their hands. Some just looked mildly disappointed and others sort of smirked at friends like "I told you so." And then there was the select few people who were actually _screaming_ and cheering something that sounded like " _KIRINON!"_ with their fists pumping in the air way too enthusiastically. Kirito was mildly surprised. When he and Sinon had walked the streets while he had still been posing as a girl, they got a lot of cat calls and whistles, but _this many_ people were that devastated? And the ones cheering… he had heard of "shipping" and the like for characters and famous people, but really? They were that passionate about this?

The M16 guy was still standing in front of them, gaping and not even attempting to close his mouth.

In the midst of the chaos, Sinon glanced up at Kirito and flashed him a smirk. He somehow found himself smirking with her.

"Wow. I'm surprised so many people are so upset about this." The crowd quickly died down as Kirito spoke, moving himself so that he stood behind Sinon and wrapped his arms around her waist so that his chin rested on her shoulder. The shorter of the two had to bite her lip to keep from laughing because her "girlfriend" had switched to a surprisingly convincing yet subtle falsetto voice.

Kirito watched as everyone gaped at his open show of affection, and, while normally attention set him on edge, the warmth and pressure of the body against him made him feel less vulnerable.

He smiled sweetly and continued. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Sinon and I are in love." To prove "her" point, Kirito nuzzled Sinon's neck and, on cue, she turned and met "her" lips. The kiss lasted for a while, and there was some commotion from the crowd as it obviously grew more passionate, Sinon's hand tangling in Kirito's long hair. And when they broke apart, they were a little breathless and their faces slightly flushed, but they were grinning like they didn't even care. Then "she" did something completely unexpected; "she" grabbed Sinon's breasts and started fondling them.

The shorter girl stiffened and immediately stamped on Kirito's foot. Hard.

" _Ow!"_ he exclaimed, then hissed in pain as Sinon pinched the back of his hand so that he let go.

"Don't get ahead of yourself!" she scolded sharply, though the blush spreading across her cheeks considerably dulled the effect. Turning to the guy with the M16, Sinon gave a sweet smile. "If you would excuse us for just a second." Seeming to hold hands, though really her hand was still pinching Kirito's, Sinon dragged him across the room and toward the exit.

Once outside, she didn't stop, and Kirito was slightly concerned to find that she was pulling him into an alleyway. The shadows of the buildings cast them in darkness, and he began to feel sweat forming at the back of his neck. Then, she stopped walking, leaving them standing alone in a quiet, deserted alley. Slowly, she let go, and for one, naive second, Kirito let himself relax. Big mistake. He barely registered the feeling of her hand on his arm when the ground fell away from his feet and it was upside down. Then he was slammed onto his back, a grunt sounding from his throat both due to pain and surprise, and again when a boot planted firmly in his sternum.

"While I do enjoy it in bed, I DO NOT APPRECIATE BEING FONDLED IN PUBLIC!"

Kirito, however, was still dazed from the hits.

"You know, maybe we shouldn't get married. Nah, let's head to the club and… hit on some guys."

Kirito went pale. "But, um, uh, I…" he stammered. And then his vision of her was blocked by the massive barrel of Hecate II.

"Now then, have I made myself clear on this subject?" she said. The daggers in her eyes were likely to kill him before the bullet would.

"Yes, you have made it _very_ clear!" he practically yelled at her.

She then dematerialized Hecate and took her foot off of him.

"Good!" she gave him an innocent smile as she helped him up.

* * *

For some reason, there seemed to be a lot of arguing couples as Kirito and Sinon left the "chapel" (as the players called it, but really it was just a glorified clerk's office) but the majority seemed to be the girls chewing out the guys for something. Probably because Kirito and Sinon, once considered GGO's most eligible bachelorettes, had just married each other. They were the talk of GGO, even before their names hit the official BoB roster. As they walked through the streets, they saw more than a few credits changing hands.

"Well, seems, we're pretty popular." Sinon said, looking around. "What say we go to my favorite bar to celebrate our 'newfound' happiness?"

* * *

As they sat in the bar, drinking the non-alcoholic beverages, they stared at the tv screen that was showing MMO Stream, where they were nearing the end of an interview with the current reigning champion of BoB, Jack Tugger.

"Now, mister Tugg-" the (female) interviewer began.

"Jack, please." He said, smirking and raising his eyebrows as seductively as possible. While everyone in the bar saw right through this, and some even booed, it obviously flustered the interviewer. Apparently he had a reputation of being quite the lady's man, and even Kirito couldn't deny that he was quite a looker. He looked at his wife's hooded head, and quirked an eyebrow, which would've been lost on anyone but her due to his hood. She simply gave a shrug in response.

"Uh… m-miste- I mean Jack, have you heard the rumors yet?"

"What rumors are you referring to?" he asked, leaning closer to the poor woman.

"Um… uh, that, uh, Sinon and Kirito have apparently come back to GGO after a long absence, and not only have they entered the BoB, they just recently got married!" a banner suddenly appeared from the top of the screen that read " **CONGRATULATIONS!"** and balloons and confetti effects fell on the screen. Suddenly a picture of the two of them exiting the "chapel" popped up, and Kirito felt the heat rise to his cheeks. Sinon, on the other hand, looked like she was rather pleased with herself, but underneath that she was also slightly embarrassed. Once the picture faded the woman resumed her interview-turned-tabloid.

"So, Jack, how might this hinder your BoB chances? Any thoughts on the marriage?" she asked. Jack just simply smiled.

"I don't think it'll hinder my chances. After all, no one's heard from those two in nearly three years, so obviously they're out of practice." Kirito and Sinon both scoffed simultaneously. "As for their marriage, I honestly think it's a farce. I mean, no women _that_ good-looking would keep those looks away from men, that's just selfish. I think they did it just so people would leave them alone." suddenly, Kirito heard the crash of shattering glass to his right, and looked over to see Sinon's hand spewing red polygons, and clenched tightly. When he looked, he noticed she lost barely a pixel of health, but had lost some nonetheless. And judging by her face, she was furious.

But Jack wasn't done.

"I bet you, that during, or even after the BoB, I will manage to have one or both of them wrapped around my finger." he laughed haughtily

"I'd like to see you try, dirtbag." Kirito mumbled under his breath as he turned to Sinon to patch her up. Only, she wasn't in her seat. She had one foot planted on the bar, one on her barstool, hood down so everyone could see her face and hair, and was currently taking aim at the TV with her Hecate.

Before Kirito, let alone anyone else, could react, there was a smoking hole in the wall where the screen used to be. Kirito quickly pulled down his own hood and opened his mouth to try to calm her, but his words were swallowed by the look she gave him.

"HE DIES FIRST!" she declared, loud enough for the whole bar to hear.


	12. GGO Part 1

A/N: Hey guys! Next chapter! Thanks so much for the nice reviews, we're glad you guys like this story so much! Now about this chapter, there's a little bit that delves into darker territory, possibly M-worthy but I don't think it's bad enough to change the rating. Just heads up, and know this story probably won't get heavier than this. But I mean we were due for some more serious stuff anyway. I hope you still like it though.

And also, we won't be updating during the holidays. We're taking some "us time" as Warrior-san wanted to put it, but I promise we'll be back in... two weeks? Anyway, look forward to that, and enjoy the chapter :)

* * *

 **Chapter 12-GGO Part 1**

Kirito could feel the anger pouring off his wife in waves as they rode the elevator up to their penthouse.

"Shino, it's not that bad… he was just talking out of his ass…" he tried to calm her. The look he received put an end to his attempts.

"No, Kazuto, it IS that bad! That… creep just called our marriage, and by extension our whole relationship, a sham, so _excuse me_ if I DECIDE IT IS THAT BAD, AND WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!" by the time their elevator stopped on their floor, Sinon had reached her full volume, and Kirito was glad their penthouse was on an exclusive floor. He was fairly certain that if they had neighbors, they would have peeked into the hallway, which would have earned them a headshot from the fuming sniper. Sinon, ignoring her frightened husband who was practically cowering in the corner, marched out of the elevator and into their apartment, slamming the door behind her. Just as Kirito was about to wonder if he should find somewhere else, he saw the door open and a hand motion him in. when he reached the door however, he heard sobbing.

"Shino? Shino, what's wrong?!" he rushed over to the couch to see his wife in tears in the fetal position. "Shino…" he began as he walked around and sat on the couch. He was about to ask her what was wrong, but she simply sat up and latched onto him, crying into his chest. He had seen this before, though not recently. He simply wrapped his arms around her and let her cry.

When it finally seemed she had no more tears to give, she spoke up. "I'm sorry Kazuto. It's just… that creep saying those things… it reminded me of… of…" she swallowed. "Of Shinkawa…" she said his name quietly, as though speaking it aloud might summon the psychopath right to them. Indeed, even Kirito held a special disdain for the man.

* * *

" _Shino," Kazuto started uncertainly as they walked down the sterile, white walls of the asylum. "Are you sure about this?"_

" _No" came the immediate answer, but the woman beside him never paused as she continued. "But he's still a human being, and he was my friend at one point. A really good friend. I shouldn't neglect him just because he's sick."_

 _Kazuto was quiet for a minute, contemplating her, their steps echoing faintly off the walls. "Even after what he did?"_

" _Yes."_

 _She sounded so sure, he decided not to press it. He could tell she had been thinking about this for a long time with how steady her voice was now. Once she made up her mind, there really was no talking her out of it._

 _The ebony-haired girl glanced at him, noticing his pensive expression. "You didn't have to come, you know."_

 _He shook his head. "Are you kidding? I'm not letting you go in there alone even if you can take care of yourself."_

 _Her lips twitched in what could have been a smile, but the expression never fully showed itself. And that was completely understandable. "Thanks, Kazuto."_

 _The two of them didn't say anymore as they went down the hallway, following the orderly they had largely been ignoring for the past several minutes. He led them through the hospital, rounded corner after corner of an endless hallway. There were metal doors at regular intervals along the walls. Moans could be heard from behind most of them, and from one there was an ominous, monotonous tapping sound that gradually set Kazuto on edge. He was hating this place already._

 _They reached a wing that was obviously for more high-risk patients. As they looked around, they saw large steel doors with shatter-proof glass windows and huge deadbolt locks. Some of the inmates could be seen standing in the corner, mumbling to themselves, while others simply rocked back and forth on their bed._

" _Hey, you're a real beauty!" One of the patients had obviously taken an interest in them. He was staring out at them from a window, eyes bright with something that would make anyone's skin crawl. "Nice body too. I'd love to do terrible things to it," Suddenly he leaned forward and licked the window in one long stripe, eyes full of lust._

 _The action startled the couple, and they stopped walking. But they immediately thought better of it and started walking again._

" _You have nice skin." Someone a few doors down took up the assault, a pale, thin woman with a sharp voice. "I wanna just PEEL IT OFF!" she screamed, the metal of the door clanging loudly with every blow she dealt._

 _Shino's shoulders tensed as they passed by, and if she had had her gun on her, Kazuto was sure she would have pulled it out and possibly shot some heads full of lead. He was sort of glad that she didn't because then she would have gone to jail. But then he wasn't._

" _You have nice eyes," Kazuto was expecting the next person to be talking to Shino, but he was startled to find the man looking at_ him _. "Can I have them?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious._

" _Um, no," he answered. Then proceeded to walk faster and push Shino along._

 _The two did their best to ignore the other patients as they continued to follow the orderly, and eventually they reached their destination (which Kazuto wasn't sure was a relief or not). They stopped in front of a 2-inch thick glass wall, behind which stood Shino's former best friend in a straight jacket. He glared at Kazuto, but smiled at Shino._

" _Hello, Asada. It's always nice to see you."_

" _Hi, Shinkawa," she answered, though she didn't sound as enthusiastic. "How are you?"_

" _Oh just fine." He punctuated the last word with a hard jerk of his arms. "Still stuck in a mental institution, but you know, perfectly fine. Now these visits are special to me and I don't want to ruin it, but I need to ask. What is HE doing here?" Shinkawa glared fiercely at Kazuto, who didn't so much as blink in his direction._

" _I can go wherever the hell I want," the other male growled back, dark eyes trained on him in a challenge. Watching them was like watching two wolves facing off in a cage._

" _Kazuto is a friend of mine," Shino interrupted, placing a hand on said man's shoulder and taking a step forward. "He wanted to be here. That's really all that's important."_

" _No it's not." Shinkawa said, looking at the hand she placed on Kazuto with contempt. "He's more than just a_ friend _, isn't he? You guys are together now."_

" _That's not any of your concern." Shino's voice was steady, her gray eyes fixed on him with her signature, impassive stare. "What I do with other people is my business."_

" _No, but see, this_ is _sort of my business." The man behind the glass stepped closer, face as close to Shino's as his confines would allow. "He's with_ you. _That's stealing."_

" _I'm not an object to own!" the girl replied harshly, joining the dog fight. "I am my own person and do as I choose."_

" _But I'm the one who saved you! I was there for you first after you killed! I'm-"_

" _Don't you dare." Shino was standing squarely in front of the glass now, glaring at him with such force he should have been dead ten times over. Her voice didn't raise above her normal volume, but that almost made it worse. "Don't play that card. Not after you killed people and then went after me and Kazuto. You lost the right to act like you understood me a long time ago."_

" _I understand you more than he does!" Shinkawa shouted back, spit spattering the glass in little droplets. "I understand you_ perfectly! _We're practically the same! Both us of have killed! Both of us know what it's like to be looked down on by others! Can't you see I'm the better choice?"_

" _Shino killed in self-defense and saved other people." Kazuto stepped in, glaring at Shinkawa as the woman in question stood frozen. "You just killed in cold blood. You're a murderer and don't deserve someone like her."_

" _Like you're one to talk," the other retorted. "I know what the eyes of a killer look like, and you've got 'em. And it wasn't "in self-defense" either. You_ murdered _people. How does that qualify you to have her?"_

" _I've come to terms with what I did," Kazuto answered coolly. "I saved people and that's not something I should regret."_

 _Shinkawa scoffed, then turned to Shino like Kazuto had disappeared. "This is some kind of sham, isn't it? Your relationship with him can't possibly be real-he's not right for you. You just brought him here to make me jealous didn't you?!"_

 _A loud_ "crack!" _startled the couple and Shino took half a step back. Shinkawa had smashed his head against the glass, the wild look in his eyes saying he didn't plan on stopping._

" _Asada, I don't appreciate games. Tell me the truth right now. Say you're not with him."_

 _Shino remained silent, and Shinkawa only grew angrier._

Crack!

" _I'm not playing, Asada. Tell me right now."_

Crack!

" _Asada."_

Crack!

" _Asada!"_

CRACK!

" _ASADA!"_

 _Blood dripped from the impact area, dark red rivulets formed on the glass and the man's face. He continued to scream, shouting her name over and over again until several orderlies appeared to restrain him. Shino didn't watch anymore, and immediately walked away before much else happened. Kazuto stayed long enough to watch the men strap Shinkawa to a gurney and injecting a sedative before he followed after her._

 _It took a bit of wandering around to finally find her, standing in the middle of what seemed to be a waiting room of a sort. Cautiously, the man approached her._

" _Shino…?" He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok?"_

 _Quickly, she swiped at her eyes and looked away, brushing off his hand. "I'm fine. This visit wasn't the best plan."_

 _Kazuto remembered a time when he would have let it go at that, when he would have respected her privacy enough to wait until she wanted to talk about it. But now? Now that he knew her and knew that he loved her, he couldn't let it slide._

 _He stepped in front of her, and she turned a hard glare on him._

" _No, you're not," he said, voice soft, yet even._

" _Yes. I am!" she stated firmly, standing her ground and not looking away from his abyss-black eyes._

 _Reaching a hand up, he gently swept a tear from her eye. "No. You're not."_

 _The girl glared at him a moment longer, face hard-set despite the tears. Then, a quiet sob built in her throat. Next moment, she was leaned into his chest, crying into his shirt as he held her, hand trailing soothingly up and down her back._

" _You did this to me," she accused, voice muffled by his shirt. "Before you came along, I could've easily shrugged this off…"_

" _Believe it or not, embracing your emotions is actually healthy." Kazuto felt a small chuckle reverberate through his ribs, and he smiled softly as he continued to run his fingers along her spine._

" _I'm sorry," he muttered after a while. "He blew up because I was here. I should have stayed behind like you said."_

" _No." Shino shook her head and looked up at him slightly. "You were here to support me. That's all I could ever ask of you. And anyway, that probably would have happened sooner or later… Thank you for being here."_

 _A prick of sadness bloomed in his chest. "I'm sorry," he said again._

 _She faced him fully, a sad smile stretching across her lips. "Me too."_

* * *

"Shino, you can't let the guy get to you, otherwise he's already won. So what if he tries to hit on us, we'll just shun him and let him know his advances aren't welcome." he started playing with her hair as he spoke because he knew that tended to have a calming effect on her. She looked up from his lap where her head rested.

"Yeah, you're right." she smiled through slightly watery eyes. "Hey, do you think the repairman's done? We have some catching up to do at home." she smiled even more after saying this.

"Only one way to find out." he said as he picked her up and carried her to their bed to log out.

* * *

After a few hours of doing _various things_ after returning from the internet cafe, they rematerialized back in GGO, refreshed and reinvigorated. Now they had some practice to do to make sure they hadn't lost their edge, that included signing with a PK team. Of course, that came with the usual dangers.

"Are you sure about this?" Kirito asked his wife as she posted their names on the board as "looking for group".

"Yes. this is how I got the most experience, and money, as quickly as possible." she explained. "We need to get back out there so we can get back on top. Plus, we could always use the extra creds." she smiled at her use of the slang for the currency in this world. She truly had returned. "Now we just-" they received a notification saying someone had picked their ad. "Well, that was quick." she said. The notification told them to head to a table in the hall. They quickly followed the instructions, wanting to at least learn names before the party went on its excursion. That was, until they saw one person who was in their group.

"YOU!" Sinon screamed as Kirito grabbed her arm to keep her from doing anything rash. Sitting there on the table, smug as can be, was Jack Tugger, or as Sinon knew him, that asshole she hates.

"Well, what an unexpected surprise!" he said, give the two "girls" his sultriest look. "And here I thought this expedition would be a total sausage fest." the other men glared at him a bit, but none spoke for fear of causing him to leave. Little did they know he had no intention of leaving now.

He stood up and walked over to them, placing a hand on their shoulders. "And can I say how honored I am that you chose our humble team to grace with your presence, as well as how happy I am for your… ''marriage'," he intentionally drew out the word, "to each other." he leaned in between them and smiled knowingly. "Though the three of us all know why you did it." he whispered.

Sinon pushed him away, glaring daggers at him, and Kirito trying to do the same, though it wasn't as effective.

"You're an idiot if you think that." she stated. "Kirito loves me, and I love… her." Sinon decided keeping the guise going for now would be better.

Jack simply smiled and murmured to himself, "We'll see about that."

* * *

As they sat, huddled together on one of the top floors of a building, they discussed their plans.

"Alright, here's the plan." Jack spoke up. "Kirito will take a everyone down to those rocks, where you'll take cover. She's in charge, got it?" he looked around at everyone, and they all nodded, though some reluctantly. "Alright, so while you all do that, Sinon and I will-"

"Whoa whoa!" Kirito interrupted. "I am not leaving her with you! _You_ can go down there with everyone, and _I_ can stay here with my wife!"

"What's the matter?" Jack replied smugly. "Afraid she might be unfaithful?" he smiled that same infuriating smile that made both Kirito _and_ Sinon want to punch him in his stupid face. But just as Kirito and Jack seemed like they were about to go for each other's throats, Sinon stepped in.

"Alright you two, knock it off!" she said forcefully, causing them both to settle down a bit. "Kirito, as much as I hate to admit it, Tugger-"

"Jack, please." he interjected.

" _Tugger_ has a point. You'll be much more useful down there with your sword than up here." she stated matter-of-factly. "Besides," she whispered to Kirito, "you and I both know that if he gets out of control, I can easily handle him." she smiled and pecked him on the cheek, earning a few whistles from the men. "For luck." Kirito smirked.

"I don't need luck. I have a sword." he said, feeling the weight of his new laser sword at his hip. They both laughed and Kirito headed for the stairs. Some of the men engaged Kirito in idle chit chat as they left, and Sinon listened until their voices faded away, leaving her with one of the men she hated most right now. She turned to him and pulled her glock.

"Listen pal, Kirito is the best thing to ever happen to me, and if you think you're getting in the way of that, you're sadly mistaken." she practically oozed menacing right now, but Jack seemed unfazed by it.

"Right, I'm sure she is the best thing to happen to you. At least until me." he raised an eyebrow, trying to be charming but all it did was irk Sinon.

"You annoy me. Go watch the stairs or something. I need to set up." she holstered the glock and materialized Hecate II into her hands, happy to once again feel the weight in her hands. She was positive this moment couldn't be ruined, until Jack spoke up.

"Boy, you must really love that gun too." he said from the top of the stairs. "I know you probably could've gotten a better gun than that old thing. Yet you keep it around. Why? It hasn't done anything for you, in fact it's probably hampering you. You could be the best in the game, but that old Hecate is holding you back." he smiled as charmingly as he could. Sinon wasn't having it.

"Are you talking about my gun, or my wife?" she asked, standing Hecate on it's butt and leaning on it. "Because either way, I take offense." she glared at him, and he just smiled.

"You'll see what I'm talking about once the action starts."

* * *

Meanwhile, Kirito was having much the same problem, but not to the same degree.

"So what is she like? Is she the total ice queen everyone says she is?" one of his squadmates asked.

"Um, well, it kinda depends on her mood…" "she" said, thinking back to the alleyway incident. The look she gave him will haunt his dreams for at least the next week.

"What do you mean?" another one asked. Kirito didn't like where this was going.

"Look guys, the people we're supposed to ambush will be here soon. We need to get to cover." the men let out a collective groan, but quickly went to their positions nonetheless. Kirito pulled out his new laser sword and examined it with pride. With the winnings of his last BoB (after Sinon bought the penthouse), he had been able to buy a fully customized one. This one had a narrower handle, a slightly longer blade, and the best part, a cross guard. Sure he wasn't likely to be in any sword duels, and therefore wasn't likely to need it, but damn it looked cool. And that wasn't even considering the color he made it. Though the more he thought about it, people had kinda taken to the laser sword after he wrecked the competition with his. Especially with the creature hunters.

" _Kirito, get ready."_ Sinon's voice came over the earbud. " _They just appeared in my scope."_ Kirito heard a bit of a groan in the background on Sinon's end.

"What was that?" he asked, though he had an idea of what it was.

" _Jack tried to get handsy, so I dealt with him."_ Kirito smirked, looking at his squad's terrified faces. " _Here they come. They're all cloaked, so I can't tell what most of them are carrying, so be ready for anything."_

Kirito poked his head out from the rock he was behind.

 _ **BANG!**_

Kirito ducked just as the bullet shattered the rock where his head was.

"Sinon, they have a sniper too!" he yelled into his headset as he activated his laser sword. Pure back surrounded by white came out of all three emitters, and he started running from rock to rock, dodging the sniper fire.

" _Yeah, I know. I'm trying to track the shots. I would be a lot more efficient at it if SOMEBODY would stop trying to hit on me!"_ Kirito could just see her glaring at Jack, and it made him smile a bit as he approached the group of hunters.

"Open fire!" he screamed into his radio, and he heard the characteristic chatter of live-ammo weapons and the zapping sounds of optical weapons. Then suddenly, above the racket, he heard shouts of "cease fire!", and once the hunters did so, he ordered the same. Once the smoke cleared, one of the hunters stepped forward.

"You must be the famous Kirito. We heard about your return to GGO." he bowed. "My name is Sajiro, and may I say, I am a huge fan of yours." He stood up and looked Kirito up and down. "Though I must say, I thought you'd be taller." a few of his men snickered at that, but a glare from Sajiro quickly shut them up.

"Why did you call a ceasefire?" Kirito inquired as he deactivated his laser sword.

"Because I would rather _not_ have all of my men lose both their EXP and creds. So, I figured we could come to an arrangement." he stated.

"What do you propose?"

"A one-on-one duel to the death or near-death. Laser swords only. You win, you get all of either our XP or the creds, not both. I win, and your people protect us all the way back to town from any other bandits, for free."

Kirito looked thoughtful for a second before pressing his earpiece.

"Sinon, what do you think?"

" _I think it sounds gre- hey! Get off-!"_

Suddenly a new voice came on.

" _Kirito, it's Jack. Don't do it, we can take them."_

Kirito quickly shut off the earpiece. Out of pride, not to mention spite towards Jack, he was going to duel.

"Sajiro, you have a deal." he put out his hand and Sajiro shook it firmly. Kirito's men came out of hiding and joined the hunters to form a ring around the two swordsmen. Sajiro dropped his cloak and Kazuto noticed his high-tech looking samurai armor.

"Heh, I have a friend who would really like you." Kirito said as they slowly began pacing around the circle. Kirito clicked the button on his sword and with a _**VROOM!**_ the black blade and crossguards came into being.

"That's a very nice custom sword you have there. Now let me show you mine." he smirked a little as he said this, and pulled a katana-looking hilt from his waist, and with a _**CRACK!**_ , the blue katana blade popped out.

"My friend would love you." Kirito chuckled, getting into a stance.

"Really? Perhaps you should introduce us." Sajiro retorted, also getting into a stance.

" _Wait a minute, I recognize that stance! But from where?"_ Kirito didn't have much time to ponder this as Sajiro launched into his attack.

Lunging forward, Sajiro immediately went for Kirito's chest, but luckily he was just fast enough to deflect it past his arm, though it did graze him. Kirito immediately responded with a riposte, putting Sajiro back on the defensive, but not for long as he managed to push Kirito back and they began to engage in rhythmic strikes at each other, taking turns attacking and defending, each whittling down the other's health slowly but surely.

To the many outside viewers, it was poetry in motion. Seeing two masters of the sword trying to out do each other was simply breathtaking, from the flying leaps they took, to using some of the rock formations to gain a height advantage. Black and blue met nearly constantly, with sparks spewing every time.

Sinon watched the spectacle through her scope and was once again amazed at the way her husband moved seemingly effortlessly through the air. She was rather in awe of it herself. The man next to her, however, couldn't be less happy.

" _Dammit! That little punk is stealing MY spotlight! How am I supposed to woo Sinon if all she can focus on is her bitch of a wife?! What does she have that I don't?"_ Jack pondered.

Kirito and Sajiro's swords met once again in a bind, sparks flying from where they crossed.

"Wow, you're really good." Kirito complimented.

"And you, of course, are one of the best in this game!" Sajiro retorted. They once again parted, and while Kirito took his stance, Sajiro crouched and turned his sword backwards as he drew it near his head. Kirito immediately recognized what he was doing, and got into the proper stance to deflect it.

To the outside observer, it was nearly instantaneous. One moment, they're standing feet from one another, the next Sajiro is on the ground, a large gash in his side.

"Sorry," Kirito said. "But you're not fast enough to pull off the reverse swallow." his sword disappeared into the handle. "It was a valiant attempt though." he walked over and held out his hand to pick up Sajiro. "It probably would've worked on anyone else. I suggest upping your AGI stat a bit more." he smiled as Sajiro took his hand.

"Right you are. I'll think about it." they both smiled and shook hands, ready to part as friends. That's when Kirito felt the bullet pierce his heart.


	13. GGO Part 2

A/N: Hey..! How's it going? Sorry I know this took longer than two weeks, that is entirely my fault. This new semester of school is killing me because now I have more advanced classes and I'm getting ready for college. Thank Warrior-san that you guys got something at all, this is mostly his work. It's kinda short, I know, but the next one is longer and extremely close to being done. I might even post it early if I can, but don't hold me to that. :P

Also, sorry if last chapter freaked you out some. We pride ourselves in making this story as realistic as possible but maybe we went too far? I think it was somewhat appropriate though because I read that Shinkawa goes to a mental institution and Shino tries to visit him because she wants to be a better person. And we portrayed the asylum that way because that's actually how it is according to Warrior-san who is in fact studying psychology and _knows_ that shit. So yeah fight me. Just kidding, don't, I love you guys! Thanks for all the support so far too, you're all awesome!

* * *

 **Chapter 13-GGO Part 2**

" _NO!"_ Sinon screamed, watching as Kirito fell over, the **DEAD** sign appearing over him.

All hell broke loose as both he and Sajiro fell over, dead from a shared bullet to the heart. Everyone started firing, each side blaming the other for the fall of their hero. Sinon, however, had other concerns.

"JACK!" she yelled. "Get down here!"

She spun on her heel as she saw him come down the stairs with a Barret .50 cal.

"Yeeeesssss..?" he said innocently. Sinon didn't even hesitate in putting a bullet through his leg. He fell forward, clutching it because, while the dampeners were on, it still hurt to be shot in the kneecap with a large caliber round.

" _AUGH! YOU BITCH!"_ screamed Jack.

"That was for shooting my hu- wife." she said through gritted teeth, almost outing herself. "Now I suggest you start limping home. It'll take you a while. And now I need to clean up the mess you made."

"You stupid whore! You really think the hunters would have accepted the results of that duel?! I was protecting us!"

"BULLSHIT!"she yelled. "You were just trying to kill Kirito! Admit it or I blow your other leg off and just leave you here!" The look in her eyes said she meant it too, but Jack antagonized her further.

"How can you be so blind!" He asked incredulously. "Kirito wouldn't have been okay with me killing Sajiro, so I had to eliminate them both! I saw the shot, and I took it!" Sinon scoffed, looking down at him as though he were an insect.

"You're pathetic. I would say you're a snake, but I happen to be quite fond of them, so you're not a snake. No, you're more like a cockroach, but that is demeaning to cockroaches everywhere. After all, at least they have the decency to stay out of sight most of the time." She walked up to him and stomped _hard_ on his knee, causing him to cry out. She then lifted her boot-clad foot, leaving the man whimpering and clutching at his wound.

She looked back at the scene of carnage below her, and decided to book it. Running for the exit, she had a sudden thought as a bullet passed in front of her.

" _The other sniper, right."_ she thought to herself. The sightline hit her, and she moved back to her cover. She poked her head out, only to have it nearly blown off. This would be a tough fight, especially with the whimpering, sorry excuse of a comrade right behind her. She suddenly felt very self-conscious about how short her shorts were. The firing below her stopped, and she knew that the hunters were dead, but the fight was long from over.

One shot. Another dead body below her.

Another shot. One more. This continued for a while until only a few from the original group remained. Sinon chanced another look, and saw a glint of something on one of the buildings that caught her eye.

"There you are…" she mumbled, pulling her Hecate into position for a shot. She looked through her scope.

" _Empty building. Empty floor. Empty- hang on…"_ she saw the glint again, so obviously the sniper had stopped looking for her, and was still trying to take out the rest of the 'band'. She continued watching the tower, checking for the specific spot the fire was coming from. She waited for what felt like an eternity, but when she finally saw the muzzle flash of the Dragunov, she pinpointed, adjusted, equipped her 5x optical zoom, and waited. Only one of her "teammates" remained, so she only had one chance.

A flash.

Tense muscles.

A single, long breath out...

A pull of the trigger.

 _ **BOOM!**_ Hecate fired off, sounding delighted to be shot for the first time into a worthy target. The bullet passed through the wall that concealed the sniper's body from her view, and a small **DEAD** sign appeared where the sniper used to be, and Sinon smirked... though the victory was short-lived.

"Kirito!" Sinon cried out suddenly into the corpse-ridden battlefield. She ran down the stairs as fast as her stats would allow, carelessly out into the wasteland.

 _He's not actually dead. This is a game, why are you freaking out?_ the sniper asked herself, kicking up sand in her wake as she sprinted on. But she disregarded her own logic and kept going. Up ahead, she could see the field where her team had fallen. A few players lay spread on the ground within her view, bodies still and riddled with bullet holes and spilling red light like blood. The sight sent a hollow pang through Sinon's chest, but she swallowed and forced her mindset into tunnel vision. She ran passed the initial bodies, stopping in the dead center of the carnage. Her head whipped around, chest heaving as she scanned the area.

And then she saw him.

She was running before she could talk herself down.

 _I know I shouldn't be feeling like this, and I know WHY I shouldn't be, but I'm apparently feeling it anyway._

"K-Kazuto!" she whimpered, throat threatening to close up as she dashed toward his body. He was face-down, long hair splayed on one side, his sword handle lying inches from his fingertips.

Sinon fell to her knees beside him, hands shaking slightly as she pulled his body over to cradle in her lap. Slowly, her eyes began to take in the state of his corpse. It was covered in cuts and gashes from the sword fight, but those were paltry compared to the large hole in his chest that was pouring red light out into the air. His eyes stared lifelessly into space, frozen in a state of shock and confusion.

"Kazuto…" she said quietly. "No… don't leave me…"

 _He's not dead. I know he's not dead because this is just a game and this isn't real but I… Seeing him this way…_

Tears welled up in Sinon's eyes. A quiet sob escaped her, and gingerly, she held Kirito's lifeless body to her chest and wept.

"Ah hell…" the silence was broken by the one voice she didn't want to hear. She turned to glare at the limping form of Jack Tugger. "I hate to see a woman cry…"

Sinon continued glaring at him through her tears. She then turned back to Kirito's lifeless form. "Go away, you are the LAST person I want to talk to right now." She spoke softly but sharply, and just barely loud enough for Jack to hear. She continued to hold Kirito for a few more seconds before his body burst into blue polygons, signaling he had respawned at his last save point.

Jack limped up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, which she immediately shrugged off.

"Come on," Jack pressed, placing a hand on her shoulder again. "I'm trying to console you here! Give me a break."

Sinon felt her jaw clench. With a deft movement, her hand reached at her waist, pulled her glock, and fired it right in Jack's face. The man barely let out the beginnings of an alarmed shout before a red hole was blasted into his forehead and his body collapsed to the rugged terrain. The sniper then stood up and walked over to his body and emptied a full clip into his face. When she heard the clicking noise that indicated an empty magazine, she took to kicking his body.

"FUCK. YOU. YOU. MISOGYNISTIC. ASSHOLE. GO. FUCK. YOURSELF!" She screamed at his avatar, knowing full well he heard her and saw her desecrating his body. After all, his 15 minutes to respawn weren't up yet. She continued kicking until a hand grabbed her shoulder, causing her to spin around ready to deck whoever dared lay a hand on her. She stopped short, seeing the kind eyes and effeminate features of her husband.

"Kirito… I-" she stopped short, not quite sure what to say. She was overcome with relief that he was okay, but once again chastised herself. " _Of_ course _he's okay, it's just a game."_

"I saw that Jack was here, so I rushed over with a taxi as fast as I could." He looked at the body spewing red like fireworks. "I guess I didn't really _need_ to hurry." He smirked, and Sinon felt so happy to see him standing there, to see him smiling at her and _alive,_ she rushed forward and threw her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder.

Chuckling softly, Kirito wrapped his arms around her waist. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" he inquired.

"I'm just happy you're back with me," Sinon said through watery eyes, though she didn't dare show him and kept her face hidden in the curve of his neck because, really, the reason she had been so upset was stupid.

He seemed to pick up on her mood though and soothingly ran a hand along her spine, quietly and concernedly speaking next to her ear. "You okay?"

"Fine." Sinon finally brought herself to pull away, smiling up at him and pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

Kirito blinked down at her, raising an eyebrow, but didn't complain when he smiled, brushing a thumb against her cheek. "Come on," he said. "Let's get back to the apartment and logout. We've had a long day."

* * *

Once they were back in the real world, Shino seemed to calm down and act like her old self. She swore.

"I swear to god Kazuto, I'm gonna kill him myself! Again!" she was pacing the floor, irate. "He invalidated our relationship in front of millions, tried to hit on me, and killed you!"

Kazuto, for his part, decided to let his wife rant. It was probably for the best at this point, but he did stop her pacing by gently turning her toward him to hold her shoulders and rubbed them up and down to soothe her.

"Calm down and breathe," he reminded gently.

Shino simply glared at him. Well not really at him, but just out of context of her running monologue. After a minute, she listened, slowly drawing in a breath and letting it out in a sigh.

"...Kazuto," she began, "I don't know what to do. That bastard has gotten to me. He's pissed me off and I can't stand that he can get under my skin so easily…" In a soft groan of despair, she leaned forward, almost like she let herself fall, so that her forehead rested on his collarbone. "What do we do?"

In a small corner of his mind, Kazuto was happy that she had said "we" instead of "I," because he knew a time when Shino would have tried so hard to shoulder all her burdens on her own. He was happy that she thought of them as one unit now. The feeling was nice.

"I think the best thing is to beat him at his own game. Show him we're still the best, and way above him. People like him respect power, and the only way he'll back off is if we prove once and for all that we're more powerful than him." After a moment Kazuto sighed. "We should call it a night. The BoB starts tomorrow, and I want to be well-rested for it."

Shino copied his sigh. "Ok," she said, but didn't move and instead stepped a little closer to him, moving so her cheek pressed against his shoulder and she could feel the soft cotton of his t-shirt (which was black, unsurprisingly).

Kazuto felt himself smile. "The bed's that way," he informed her, nudging her shoulder in the room's direction.

"I know where the bedroom is in my own house, Kazuto," Shino retorted, but her tone was far from it's usual sharpness as she mumbled into his shirt.

"So it's just _your house?_ Not mine?"

"Yes, that's how marriage works," Shino teased lightly. "The wife holds dominance in the household so, by default, this is my house. Plus it's my name on the lease."

"Gender rules are so unfair," Kazuto complained, but he lifted his hands to rest on her hips, thumbs subconsciously rubbing circles there. "Plus they make no sense. And anyway, apparently I'm your wife too, so we share custody."

He heard a small laugh, and could only grin at the sound. "Well, my dear wife, carry me to bed?"

"I thought being your wife put us on equal terms," Kazuto said, complaining yet again, but despite his words he was already bending down and scooping Shino up, liking the way she seemed to fit perfectly in his arms. His dark eyes looked into hers and he only smiled wider when he saw her lips twitching up. "How am I still in servitude to you?"

"Because I said so," the woman answered smugly, arms crossed over her chest. "Now mush, sleep awaits."

"And now I'm a dog," her husband sighed, but he was still smiling slightly as he took Shino over to their room, not much minding the fact that he had carried her there.

THUNK!

"Dammit Kazuto, watch where you're going!"

He grimaced, moment ruined. "Sorry."


	14. GGO Part 3

A/N: Yes, we're on time! And we proudly present this long chapter as an apology for taking such a long time to continue our schedule. I'm thinking this arc will have one more chapter, but we'll see how it goes.

One thing I want to clarify: the flashbacks in this chapter are not in order. The first one is maybe their second or third date, and the second one is before they started dating.

* * *

 **Chapter 14-GGO Part 3**

Kirito and Sinon sat once again in a bar, awaiting the first round of preliminaries to begin.

"So, how ya feeling?" Kirito asked his wife tentatively.

"I'm still peeved," Sinon replied flatly. "But I no longer want to shoot Tugger on sight. I've decided to take your advice and wait for the battle royale, where we can decimate him." She smiled sadistically, and Kirito couldn't help but gulp at the sight.

"You know, there are times when I would feel legitimate fear of you if I didn't love you," he said, smiling somewhat uneasily, hoping his joke went over well. It did.

"Yeah well, you had a softening effect on me, so I could always be worse." She smirked. "Hey," she said suddenly, "remember our first kiss?"

Kirito scoffed. "How could I? We were both drunk."

"No, not that one!" Sinon said as her face became bright red. "Besides, we both agreed that one didn't count because we could hardly remember it. I mean our _official_ first kiss."

"How could I forget?" he said, laughing. "You were so shy and clums-" he received a light smack on the shoulder. "But yes, I remember."

* * *

" _You've never been to an aquarium?"_

 _Shino shook her head, walking next to Kazuto along the boardwalk. It was a beautiful day out today. The sky was a clear, pale blue, small dots of clouds dotting it sparsely. The broad walkway wasn't crowded, but there was enough people strolling and eating in nearby, open-air restaurants for the atmosphere to be lively yet peaceful. The canal running alongside the boardwalk added to the tranquility, the water from the Tokyo Bay glittering gently in the sunshine. A gentle wind blew through over the water, sending small waves over its surface and bringing a subtle chill to the air that made Shino pull her coat around herself a little tighter._

" _No, I haven't. I haven't really ever found a reason to go. Or the time really."_

" _Well good thing we're here then," Kazuto grinned. "I'm even more glad I thought of this idea."_

 _Shino rolled her eyes but smiled. "Yes you should be so proud of yourself."_

" _I am," he insisted. "I get to show my hot date around the Shinagawa Aquarium and have a good time."_

 _Said "hot date" chose not to say anything about that title or else risk embarrassing herself, so instead she determinedly continued to look straight ahead and stated "So you've been here before."_

" _Yeah, a few times," Kazuto admitted. "Sugu insisted on going all the time when we were kids, and she forced me to go back after SAO."_

" _But… you haven't taken Asuna here?"_

 _The man blinked and looked to his companion, who was still staring ahead impassively. "No, actually. I mean I thought about it briefly, but she lived so far away and it was hard for her just to get to school every day."_

" _...Hmm," Shino hummed, and their conversation fell silent. Kazuto could only let that go on for a beat before he spoke up again._

" _Hey, uh…"_

 _His companion looked at him. "What?"_

" _You… you know you're different from Asuna, right?" he asked somewhat tentatively. "I started dating you for a reason… You're special to me."_

 _Subtly, a pink tint rose to Shino's cheeks and she looked away again. "Don't say stuff like that. We're in public."_

" _What? It's true."_

" _It's embarrassing!"_

" _So you want me to stop?"_

" _...No."_

 _Kazuto's grin came back onto his face. "Well then, my dark-haired beauty, let's go inside."_

 _Shino hadn't noticed that they had actually reached the aquarium, the tall, white building gleaming resplendently. The ample space in the front and the glass doors made it look very inviting._

 _Kazuto led them inside, Shino still refusing to look at him because he was spouting ridiculous nonsense that for some reason made her heart rate increase. But she was so busy looking away that she didn't notice the actual interior of the aquarium until they were a ways in and Kazuto called her name._

 _She looked up, and immediately froze._

 _It was simply breathtaking. Fish of all shapes and sizes filled the walls, or swam through tanks that served as walls. And the colors. Shino was having a hard time counting how many she saw in one corner let alone the entire room. Water filled the space in between top to bottom, seeming endless as the blue depths that gradually grew darker the farther you tried to glass that held it back was clear and pristine in a way that made it alone worthy of being an exhibit. And through them, soft light fell into the room, bathing everything nearby in a gentle glow._

 _Kazuto was standing off to the side, staring at her expectantly. "Well?"_

" _Wow," was all Shino could manage in answer. What else_ could _she say?_

 _Her companion grinned. He was doing that a lot today. "If you like this, wait 'til we get further inside."_

 _She blinked at him. "There's more?"_

" _Well yeah," Kazuto answered, smirking slightly. "What, you thought this huge building only used this one room?"_

" _No," Shino said, attempting to snap at him but failing as she was still so overwhelmed. "Just… how is there anything better than this?"_

 _Still smiling, Kazuto gestured over his shoulder. "Come on, I'll show you."_

 _Wordlessly, Shino followed him further into the room._

 _She remained at a loss for words the entire time._

 _Shino wasn't struck dumb, she just didn't know what_ to _say about something so… so breathtaking. She couldn't even describe it in just one word. The entire building was dimly lit for the most part, drawing attention to the numerous walls of water and color that refused to be ignored regardless. Some were accented by different colored lights, soft red, purple, and green LEDs glittering off the edges of the glass and… it was amazing. And the_ animals? _Shino had seen bigger in-game, but these? She wasn't sure why they amazed her more. Maybe it was because it was so easy to go in-game to see fiction and fairytale, but she had never had the opportunity to see anything like_ this _before. It was-there are no words._

 _Shino stood in front of the glass and watched as a large, spotted whale shark swam by, almost lazily on the other side of the glass. She recalled what she had just read on a plaque a little while ago that, despite their appearance, whale sharks were gentle creatures and had an esophagus the size of a quarter (which was incredible by the way). It was a shame they were endangered. But as it passed by, she caught Kazuto standing off to the side, watching her._

 _She hoped he didn't think he was being subtle, because she had caught him doing that ages ago. It wasn't creepy or anything like that, so she hadn't called him out on it, but he was making it pretty obvious. At least to Shino, anyway. He would show her around, almost like he was a tour guide (which was at least mildly impressive), point out a fish or something else on display and give an interesting fact about it, then watch her as she observed. It wasn't every single second all the time, and there were times when he would enjoy the exhibits with her, but he was staring at her enough for a girl with a sniper as an alter ego to take note of._

" _You know, there are only six of these in captivity in the entire world."_

" _Really?"_

" _Yeah. They're endangered and there haven't been that many sightings over the years, so they're pretty rare."_

" _I can read, Kazuto, I know that."_

 _The man seemed to easily read her teasing tone, and smiled, shrugging. "I know, but knowledge is power so."_

" _Then you're definitely the strongest man alive."_

" _I didn't ask for sarcasm."_

" _Well if you were so knowledgeable, you would know that sarcasm is a potential hazard of dating me," Shino said, smirking._

 _Kazuto was still smiling. "True, I guess I should have known that from the start."_

" _You did, you just forgot because you were too busy staring at me the entire time we've been here."_

 _For the first time that day, Kazuto's ears turned red and he glanced away, guilty. "I didn't… well I guess I can't really deny that."_

 _Shino found herself smiling. "Don't worry, you weren't more shady-looking than usual."_

" _Hey!"_

" _But, I mean, I don't understand what you're looking at," Shino confessed honestly, glancing back at the wall of water beside her, watching as a school of blue tangs swam by. "You should be looking at this, it's beautiful."_

" _...You're beautiful."_

 _Eyes widening, Shino turned back around. Kazuto was looking at her again, dark eyes unwavering as he met her gaze. For once, he had rendered her speechless and she could only stand there and feel herself blush. There he was, saying cheesy lines like an idiot again…_

 _He was standing really close to her, that much was blatantly obvious all of a sudden. And it was weird, because standing so close to him always made her realize how much older he-_ they _-had gotten since they had first met._

 _Shino swallowed, feeling somewhat intimidated by him-which was startlingly because the only time she had ever been intimidated by him was back in GGO so long ago. She watched as Kazuto stepped a little closer, his arm brushing hers. Unconsciously, she licked her lips. Kazuto's dark eyes flicked down to the action, then back up again, staring at her, seeming to ask a question. Shino didn't look away, barely made herself nod in answer._

 _And just like that, he kissed her._

 _He was soft, gentle, lips moving slowly like he was being careful, like he didn't want to rush it._

 _Shino smiled slightly and pressed a little closer, liking this new feeling of warmth spreading through her. But she didn't know how to return it, and suddenly she realized that she didn't know_ how to kiss. _She tried following his lead, moving with his lips, but she was doing horrendously. It was sloppy and mismatched and not at all resembling what an ideal first kiss should feel like. Shino felt heat rise to her cheeks and she grunted in frustration. Her blush grew worse when she heard Kazuto chuckle. Then his hand reached up to cup her face, guiding her, holding her but not forcing her to stay. It was sweet, actually._

" _Ahem."_

 _And that was when Shino remembered they were in a public area and were surrounded by people who could_ see everything they were doing.

" _Eek!" A small squeak came out of Shino's throat, and she quickly broke her kiss with Kazuto to whirl around and stare at the tank beside her._

" _Uh, s-sorry," Kazuto stuttered behind her._

" _There are children here, you know," a woman's voice said, sounding thoroughly annoyed._

" _Right, sorry! Our bad."_

 _There was a moment of silence, one where Shino assumed that whoever had been watching them had walked away. When she deemed it safe, she glanced over at Kazuto. And she snapped._

" _Why are you laughing?!"_

" _Sorry!" he said immediately, pressing his lips together and trying to keep his face under control. He was still chuckling and had to put a hand to his mouth to stifle it. "You just-I've never heard you make that sound before."_

" _I'm sorry that I'm decent enough to be embarrassed when caught kissing in public!"_

" _It was cute though," Kazuto added, finally seeming to calm himself down. "You can be cute, you know that?"_

" _Shut up!"_

" _And kissing you, that was cute too."_

 _Shino felt herself heat up again. "I'm sorry that I haven't had practice kissing before either."_

" _Well, we can work on that," he said nonchalantly. Then he winked at her, and Shino couldn't choose between kicking him, leaving, or possibly pulling him into a closet because all of those options sounded extremely tempting._

 _Before she could decide, he nudged her and gestured down another hallway. "Come on, there's still a lot more for us to see."_

" _...Fine," Shino conceded, walking on. "But only because I like the exhibits."_

" _Oh come on. It's not because you're with me?"_

" _Don't push it."_

 _But at the end of their date, they were somehow holding hands despite Shino's words, and she wasn't exactly complaining._

* * *

Kirito smiled at the memory. "What brought that up, anyway?"

"Just feeling sentimental," Sinon replied. "You were my first after all. Pretty much my first everything." She seemed to contemplate this for a while before she turned to him with a serious look in her eye. "Kazuto, I know I don't say it often, but I love you."

Kirito stared at her with wide eyes and mouth agape, until a thought occurred to him.

"Oh my god you're dying. You're dying, aren't you?" he said with a worried look on his face.

"What? No! I just… everything with Tugger and stuff recently got me thinking. I was feeling sentimental, but heaven forbid that happen!" She stood up from her barstool with a huff. "I need some time to think. I'll meet you before prelims."

Before Kirito could stop her, she was out the door and gone, leaving him with a sad look on his face.

"Trouble in paradise?" said an _all too familiar_ voice. Kirito had to fight his reflex to draw his blade.

" _Tugger._ What do you want?" Kirito turned to see the man had several scantily-clad women hanging off his arms. "If you're here to try and make Sinon jealous, you're a bit late. She just left." He scanned the faces of the girls, which ranged from disgusted to (he thought) admiration. "And trust me, she would not be impressed by this display." Jack waved his hand, and the girls seemed to disperse, but not stray too far from him.

"No, actually I'm here for you," he said smoothly.

"What, Sinon finally got it through your thick skull that she's not interested?" Kirito asked sarcastically.

"Not interested!" Jack exclaimed with a boisterous laugh that grated Kirito's nerves. "As if any girl could resist me!" He then flexed a muscle to show off his high STR stat. "No, Sinon is simply playing hard to get!" He stated rather matter-of-factly. Kirito scoffed.

"And shooting you multiple times in the face was what, exactly? Foreplay?"

"Yeah," Jack said a little too fondly for Kirito's liking. "We have a nice little short-hand going." Kirito couldn't help but roll his eyes as Jack continued. "Now look, I know things might get tense between you two, as it can be hard to watch the one you 'love' fall for another, but I have come to extend an offer. If you help Sinon see the error of her ways, you and I can _share_ her." He gave Kirito the sexiest smile he could muster as he extended his hand. "Deal?"

Kirito blinked, surprised at the idiocy of the man in front of him. He smacked the hand away, drawing his sword and activating it, holding the point to Jack's neck.

"Counter offer," he stated menacingly. "You stay the hell away from my wife and me, and I _don't_ try my damndest to get you banned from this game for sexual harassment. And consider yourself lucky it's illegal to attack you so soon before the prelims, or else you would be down at least one arm after the shit you just tried to pull. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a wife to morally support during the prelims." Kirito deactivated his sword and returned it to it's home on his belt in one swift, deft movement before turning and leaving. As he turned to go down the street to hail a taxi, he faintly heard Tugger whisper to one of his cohorts "Was it something I said?"

* * *

" **LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE 9TH ANNUAL BULLET OF BULLETS!"**

The neon sign blared brightly above the governor's office, which was now starting to fill with people, spectators, and participants alike. There were so many people that Kirito was actually having a bit of a rough time navigating the crowd to get to the participant's area. Luckily people started to recognize him and make a path. As he approached the designated waiting area, Kirito started looking for his wife. It didn't take long.

Spotting a familiar shock of powder blue hair, Kirito quickly made his way to Sinon's side.

"Sinon?" he called tentatively. She turned and flashed him that warm smile that always made his insides turn to jelly.

"Hey, Kirito. I'm sorry I ran out on you. I just got really worked up and didn't want to take it out on you," she said, uncharacteristically quiet. Kirito simply walked up and hugged her tight, which she returned.

"It's fine, I just feel better knowing you're okay now. But you did leave me with not only the bill, but also a mess." He chuckled.

"What do you mean?" she asked as they parted, and he told her about what happened with Jack Tugger. Kirito actually stepped back as his wife's eyes went from warm and inviting to cold and repelling.

"HE SAID _WHAT!?"_ She yelled loud enough to draw the attention of the other participants. She immediately blushed and dragged her husband to one of the changing rooms.

"Ah, this brings back memories," Kirito said, looking around the room and chuckling. Sinon, however, was not laughing, nor was she smiling.

"Kazuto, focus." He immediately did as he was told. They only used their real names in these games when something serious was going on. "This guy is getting out of hand. It's one thing when he hits one me, I'm used to the 'alpha male' personality trying to hit on me. But you're not. I love you, Kazuto, but let's face it, you're a beta male who surrounds himself with women who prefer that. You're not used to having to assert yourself, so when a man hits on you, especially one like Tugger, you need to be precise and assert your dominance."

Kirito blinked, staring at her and not exactly sure what to say to that. Should he be offended? And was his wife giving him dating advice or..? But before he could say anything, she sighed and continued.

"I hoped he would be so focused on me that he would forget about you. Obviously I was wrong." She slumped onto one of the benches across from him, leaning against the wall. "Now what…?"

Kazuto stood up and walked over to kneel in front of her. She watched as he took her hand, raised it to his lips and kissed it gently. Sinon's face reddened almost immediately.

"I'll tell you what now," he said, a dark edge to his voice that only shows itself when he got truly serious. "We go out there, and we kick ass, take no prisoners, and show people that we are still to be feared as GGO's power couple." He smiled and, without his edge, said "And make a good show of it, too. After all, our friends will be watching." He smirked, which got Sinon to do the same. "There's my blue-haired angel." He stood up a little and planted a kiss on her lips. It was meant to be chaste, but it lasted a few minutes. Unfortunately, they were interrupted.

"And so I said to him, 'look, if you're gonna hit on me-' OH MY GOD!" Said the girl who had just walked into the changing rooms to use them for their intended purpose. Instead, she and her friend stumbled upon an erotic (supposedly) lesbian kissing scene. As Kirito and Sinon quickly separated from each other, blushing heavily at being caught, they made a hasty retreat into the main waiting room to await their matches. Luckily they had once again been seeded on different sides, so they wouldn't be fighting each other until the finals, when it didn't matter who won. Not that they wouldn't give it their all to kick the crap out of each other, but they would cross that bridge when it came up.

"So, Kirito darling, are you ready to win this seed?" Sinon asked loud enough to get the attention of almost every fighter in the room. Kirito, catching on to what she was doing, followed suit.

"Of course, Sinon dear. I just feel bad for the poor saps who have to go against us. After all, we ARE the only ones who won three BoB's in a row!" Kirito watched with amusement as several menus popped up and the seed became ever so slightly smaller. It was still fairly massive though, with nearly 150 players in it.

"Well, at least our job is easier now." Kirito said with a smirk. The buzzer sounded, signaling the final five minutes until show time.

"Well, I suppose starting now, no matter how much we love each other, we're enemies." Sinon turned toward her husband/wife/now-enemy. "If you have anything sweet to say, say it now before I shoot you in your stupid face." She smiled sweetly (a little too sweetly for Kirito's comfort), and he chuckled.

"You wouldn't shoot me in my pretty face, would you?" he asked in his falsetto voice. Sinon's smile just grew.

"Hm. Maybe not. Maybe I'll aim… lower," she mused, intentionally looking down. Kirito immediately caught her meaning and paled as she walked away laughing. He stood there for a while, transfixed by the swing of her hips.

" _Damn, I am so lucky,"_ he thought to himself. Then he caught some others doing the same. Needless to say, he gave them an earful until it was time to begin, and we was teleported away to the battleground he was to fight in.

He looked to be in a city, or the remains of one anyway. He immediately dashed into one of the buildings and hunkered down to wait for his opponent, who couldn't be too far away. He sat there for what felt like hours, waiting to ambush the guy.

" _What if he has the same cloak HE had?"_ he mentally asked himself, irrationally, he knew, but he asked all the same, refusing to even think Death Gun's name. He still had some nightmares that Sinon had to help him through. Thankfully, Kirito didn't need to dwell on this long as he heard the rumble of a car driving quickly toward him. He smiled. This would be fun, and give a nice show for the "folks back home". He walked back out into the road, his coat billowing around him from the wind that blew over the rest of the wasteland. He stood in the middle of the road, and listened. The car was just around the corner, and was coming fast judging by the whine of the motor. Kirito pulled the hilt of his sword from his belt, and stood still once more. Soon, the Humvee came barrelling around the corner, the driver aiming the massive military-grade vehicle right at the lithe avatar. Kirito had to time this perfectly.

* * *

Asuna and the rest of their gang, plus the new addition of Mizumi, who sat rather close to Klein, were watching the seed on two different screens in Kirito and Asuna's cabin. While one screen showed Sinon's quite easy victory over a pistol wielder who thought he could sneak up on her, the other screen showed Kirito simply standing in the street, staring into the headlights of an oncoming SUV. Everyone tensed up the closer it got to him. Silica seemed to be trying to suffocate Pina, Yui was holding onto Asuna for dear life, and Mizumi was squeezing the life out of Klein's arm, though he didn't seem to mind. Everyone was staring intently at the screen, willing Kirito to do _something_.

"Come on, Kirito! Get him already!" yelled Leafa, standing behind the couch. Then it happened. If anyone had blinked, they would have missed it.

The driver of the Humvee let off several quick shots, Kirito blocking them with several deft movements of his blade, and just as the vehicle was about to strike him, he sidestepped it, his sword running along the length of the car, nearly splitting it in half. It quickly lost control, slamming into a building. Kirito calmly walked to the driver's side, opening the door and dodging a five-seven aimed at his head. He then disarmed the driver, throwing the flimsy pistol behind him. The driver took a swing at Kirito, which he quickly dodged. The swordsman drew his new black Desert Eagle and shot once, ending the match. Everyone jumped up and shouted, their hero and friend once again coming out on top.

* * *

Kirito was transported back to the waiting area and looked for his wife. Spotting the infamous blue-haired girl sitting by herself, he walked over and sat next to her.

"Nice match, very dramatic," she said, chuckling. "I barely got anything from mine, the kid only had an SNS pistol, and he thought he could sneak up on me. I proved him wrong by blowing his face off." She smiled at him. "On the bright side, I got to see your match almost in it's entirety. Good job with that deflection."

"Thanks. I hope you get a bit more of a challenge out of your next opponent."

He suddenly saw a familiar set of armor, and called out. "Sajiro!"

The sci-fi samurai turned around at the call of his name and saw Kirito waving his arms, while his blue-haired partner looked on in bemusement. He quickly ran over and shook hands.

"Kirito! It feels like forever since we saw each other!" he said happily.

"I know what you mean. Well, it was just yesterday, but still." Kirito smiled at the only other sword wielder he'd met so far who could potentially go toe-to-toe with him. "Are you in the BoB too?" He asked.

"Yeah, although I'm in a different seed. I hope I get to see you in the battle royale! By the way, I don't think we've been introduced miss..?" He said, turning his attention to Kirito's cohort.

"Sinon. I'm Kirito's wife," she explained standing and offering her hand, which he graciously accepted.

"Ah, I thought I recognized you, but thought it rude to assume." He shook her hand with vigor. "Perhaps after this I can get both of your autographs? There wasn't much time after our… last meeting."

"Yeah, sorry about Tugger. He's an ass," Sinon said darkly, and Sajiro's face darkened in understanding.

"Oh, it was HIM that shot and killed us. I fully understand now. He's well known for never fighting with honor." He nodded grimly.

"Yeah, we know," observed Kirito.

" **Would the BoB contestants still participating please get ready for their next match? Thank you."** The announcement came over the loudspeaker.

"Well, guys, it's been nice chatting, but we all have seeds to win. Good luck." Sajiro smiled as he ran over to where his seed was. Sinon and Kirito waved goodbye.

"I think we should invite him to join us in ALO." Kirito commented.

"I wouldn't be opposed. He and Klein would get along like a house on fire." They both laughed as they prepped for their next match.

The rest of the BoB prelims went much the same for both of them, winning with very little difficulty. They easily reached the finals together, and then it became difficult.

"You ready?" Kirito asked.

"As I'll ever be." Sinon responded. "We don't have to kill each other you know. We could do what we did the first time." Kirito seemed to give this some though.

"Or I could give you my old laser sword and-!"

"No. You know I can't use one of those damn things! Do you remember what happened last time I tried?"

* * *

" _Hey, Sinon, want to play with my lightsaber?"_

 _Sinon's indigo eyes widened and she whipped around at her companion._ "What?!" _she asked immediately, because 1) they were in public, and 2) since when did Kirito use euphemisms like that?!_

 _But apparently he didn't realize what he had done, and was now staring at her blankly. "What?"_

 _The girl narrowed her eyes slightly, arms crossing in front of her chest. "You mind running that by me again?"_

" _You wanna play with my..?" He trailed off. "Oh. No not like that." Kirito reached to his belt, turning away so he could see, but Sinon could swear he had reddened slightly as he pulled out a familiar metal cylinder. "This."_

 _He tossed it to her, and the sniper easily caught it with one hand and stared down at it. "You want me to play around with a laser blade I have no idea how to operate?"_

" _Yes."_

 _She raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you just shoot me if you really want me dead."_

" _You won't die." Kirito began, face straight like he was stating fact. "You're too smart to accidentally kill yourself with anything. I just thought you might wanna try it."_

 _Sinon paused, not knowing exactly how to take that compliment. She felt slightly pleased, regardless. Trying to shake off the warmth blooming in her chest, she looked down at the cold piece of metal that she now held in her hand. "...Well I guess I am curious."_

" _I thought so."_

 _She glared at him. "Don't be smug about it."_

" _I'm not," Kirito insisted. "I just know you. Now, come on, turn it on."_

 _The sniper's blue eyes narrowed at him, but after a moment, she conceded and looked down at the handle in her hands. "Ok… how do I do that?"_

 _He pointed at it vaguely. "There's a switch on the side."_

 _Sinon examined it and noticed a slit running lengthwise through the metal for a few centimeters, a small, raised piece at the bottom. "This?"_

" _Yeah. Push it up and the blade will turn on."_

 _She tried. "It's stuck."_

" _That's a safety feature, kind of like the safety switch on a gun. While you're sliding it with you thumb, you have to press another button on the other side with your index finger. That keeps it locked in place."_

" _Hmm. That makes sense," Sinon mused, trying again. Even after he had explained it, however, she still was having a hard time actually doing it. It was like child-proof medicine bottles: the instructions made it sound easy, but they were sometimes more trouble than they were worth._

" _Need any help?"_

" _No," the sniper snapped, sensing that he thought this was funny but was restraining himself from laughing for her sake. "Let me just-AH!"_

 _The violet blade finally whooshed to life. It almost impaled her through the head in the process._

 _Kirito stared, blinking. "Ok, maybe you are capable of accidentally killing yourself."_

 _Sinon growled, turning her sharp glare on him, heart still racing from the surprise, near-death experience._

 _Then she threw the weapon at him._

 _The swordsman's eyes widened almost comically, and he ducked before his own sword spun and cut through his neck and decapitated him. "What the hell, Si-OH GOD!"_

 _Sinon had equipped Hecate II and pulled out her glock, eyes hard and frigid as they threatened to run him through instead. Face slightly red, she fired. The glock barked loudly, Kirito barely able to dive out of the way to scramble for cover._

" _AT LEAST LET ME HAVE MY SWORD BACK FIRST!"_

* * *

Kirito shuddered. He did not enjoy that day at all.

"Alright, fair enough. We'll do it your way," he conceded. Suddenly the bright light signalling it was time for their match surrounded them.

Kirito appeared on the top floor of a windowless high-rise office building. And windowless was a problem, because as soon as he appeared, the wind seemed determined to kill him. He could barely stand up straight! He blocked his face from the buffeting wind and started to move toward what he thought were stairs. Luckily he was right as he stepped out of the windy upper floor and began the long trudge down. But he didn't know what Sinon knew.

Sinon had appeared in the lobby of the same building, and immediately took cover behind the remains of a reception desk, as per her instincts. When she saw that she was alone, she stood back up and looked out the window, her eyes widening in shock as she saw _a huge sandstorm_ heading right for them. She figured that very few of the floors on this building still had enough windows to properly protect them from the storm. She quickly located the stairs and started climbing, her AGI stat pushing her along.

They met somewhere in the middle floors.

"Oh, hey Sinon," said Kirito, mildly surprised that they both had the same idea. Said girl, however, did not not look pleased.

"Kirito there's a _huge_ sandstorm coming."

"Should I crack my glow sticks?"

"Wha-? Kirito, sandstorms in this game are literally deadly. If you go out in them you'll lose health."

That made him sober.

"If we wanna do this, we gotta do it now."

"Alright." Kirito answered, opening the door to the floor they were on, which turned out to be a mistake. Sand blasted in from the opening and both players saw their HP levels begin to dip. It took them both to push the door closed. "Well, so much for your idea…" he remarked.

"We're still not going for your idea," Sinon deadpanned.

"Well, everyone's expecting a show." He looked at the floating camera that watched them with its ever-observant eye and waved. "I feel obligated to give them one."

Sinon seemed to contemplate this. Then a devious idea struck her. Oh this would be good.

* * *

The rest of the gang watched with bated breath as, on the screen, Sinon and Kirito seemed to be standing still, not doing much. They looked almost like they were whispering to each other. Only Asuna, Silica, and Leafa still occupied the couch, as the others had gone to the kitchen to fix more snacks for everyone. They watched as the two on screen parted and Sinon spoke.

"Alright, let's split up. If we can't have a horizontal dual, we'll have a vertical one." She began to walk away, turning her back on her husband. "Let's try to make it quick."

"Oh, I'll make it quick," Kirito said in a menacing voice. She barely started to turn around when Kirito's sword pierced through her spine. She looked down in shock.

"KIRITO YOU ASS! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU STABBED ME!"

 **DEAD**


	15. GGO Part 4

A/N: Sorry for disappearing for a year! Things got hectic. I started college in August and getting this chapter out was just difficult in general. Hopefully we'll get the next one out sooner.

Warrior1311 A/N: Mwahahahahaaha! You fools! In falling for all my clever cliffhangers, you have inadvertently fed my ego! (Which was too big already, according to Shiori-chan :P)

* * *

 **Chapter 15-GGO Part 4**

In hindsight, the double cross was a bad idea. Kirito figured that out soon enough.

He had just teleported back to the waiting area, smirking to himself at a job well done, when a dragon's roar shook through his chest in a threat to bite his head off…

Well, it wasn't exactly a dragon… but everything else was true.

"KIRITO, YOU ASSHOLE!"

The swordsman spun around, blood running cold. The dragon was charging.

"OH SHIT!" He didn't even try to explain himself, he turned and fled in any direction that might offer him sanctuary. But he was supposedly running from a dragon so that would be… a little difficult.

" _Kirito, I swear to god I will kill you!"_

"Can't we just talk a-?!"

"WE ALREADY TALKED AND THEN YOU STABBED ME IN THE BACK!"

The two of them were causing a scene in the waiting area; everyone else had gone silent and watched in a mix of horror and shock as the chase unfolded in front of them.

Kirito ran toward the outer ring of the area, vaulting over the divider and crouching in an attempt to put a barrier between him and his raging wife. But Sinon had beat him to it, dashing into his lane through a gap in the wall and sprinting toward him full-speed. Seeing her alarmingly close sent Kirito's heart plummeting to somewhere at his toes, and he scrambled up to run pell-mell in the opposite direction. His heart may as well have dropped right through the earth when he saw the familiar, massive rifle she held in her arms.

She skidded to a halt, teeth bared. She was pointing the gun right at him.

"SINON, YOU CAN'T DO THAT IT'S ILLEGAL!" Kirito shouted, voice definitely not an octave above normal. There was a loud _BANG_ and Kirito was somewhat grateful that she was so pissed as the bullet missed him by a mile and embedded in the wall. No way would her bullet circle be at all accurate with her like that.

Sinon glared at Kirito across the room. Kirito slammed his hands on the railing in exasperation, eyes wide.

"You know, if you shoot anyone outside of the tournament, you get disqualified! _That includes me!"_

Sinon growled loudly, tossing her gun onto a couch and vaulting over the railing into the center ring, running straight across.

"Crap!" Kirito began to sprint along the length of the room, hating the fact that it was all-too-conveniently _circular._

He had almost reached the exit. Just a little farther and he would be home free. If he could just reach the door handle-

" _Oh, no you don't!"_

Before he could actually _see_ the door around the corner, a body slammed into him from behind, sending him sprawling across the obsidian floor with a rabid animal on his back. They tumbled for several meters, sliding rapidly across the floor. When the world finally stopped, Kirito was shoved onto his back. A weight slammed hard on his stomach, making him sure that he would have _at least_ been badly bruised if he was in his real body. His wrists were gripped in irons and slammed into the ground, pinning him down, and he stared up in horror into the maw of the fire-breathing beast.

Sinon's eyes were colder and harder than a glacier in the Arctic, her mouth twisted in an evil smile. "Oh, look, I caught a rat."

Kirito tried for a smile. "H-heeyyyyy, Sinon."

"I can't believe you, Kirito," the woman growled, blatantly ignoring him. "You _actually_ stabbed me in the back! What the hell?!"

"Well we said we'd put on a show."

"THAT WAS NOT A SHOW, THAT WAS A TRAVESTY!"

"STOP SHOUTING I'M RIGHT HERE!"

"Well maybe I _need_ to shout or else you can't _hear me."_

"Sinon, it was just the finals before the royale it wasn't-"

"That doesn't matter! It only matters that you _stabbed me in the back!"_

The two continued screaming at each other, bystanders staring with wide eyes as the match played out. Their voices filled practically every inch of the room, leaving no attention to spare for the ongoing finals airing on the tv screens above them. Some people were backing away to a safe distance.

"I wouldn't betray you if it were for real! It was just a throwaway match!"

"A game is never just a game and you know it!"

"And I played it to my advantage! Why is that such a bad thing?!"

"Because you didn't take the match seriously!"

" _I did and that's why I stabbed you!"_

"Oh my god," Sinon groaned, head tilting back slightly as she rolled her eyes. "You make no sense, you realize that?"

"You're the one that makes no sense!" Kirito's head lifted from the ground, his dark eyes glaring at her. "I played the game, I won! It's as simple as that."

"But there was no sport in that! We made a plan and you just threw it away and _stabbed me in the back!_ Like what the hell were you-?!"

Suddenly it was very quiet. Neither of them moved, still staring at each other yet not saying a word. They seemed to realize the position they were in, how close they were together, Sinon practically laying on top of Kirito. Then their eyes flicked down at each other's lips. And there was silence.

"God, just kiss already. The sexual tension is killing me."

The couple blinked, turning toward the voice and simultaneously scowling.

" _Tugger."_

The man smirked down at them coyly. "Hello, ladies. Now, are you two going to get a room, or are you just going to do it here? Cuz I personally would not mind watching."

The two simply stared at him for several seconds, a mix of disbelief and incredulousness shown plainly on both their faces. Finally, they turned to look at each other, dark eyes locking in a silent conversation.

 _Truce._

Sinon turned to look at Tugger, a sickly sweet smile spreading across her face. "Are you jealous, _Jack?"_

Kirito sent him a smirk. "I understand why you _would be."_ Intimately, he trailed his hands down Sinon's sides, resting them on her waist. "I mean, I get to do _this_ and you don't."

Jack stared down at him, for once struggling for words. Next to him, Kirito could see Sinon looking at him out of the corner of her eye, looking somewhat surprised (and perturbed) herself. He could tell by the way she tensed a little that she was restraining herself from decking him.

But surprisingly, she went along with it.

Leaning down, she laid her head on Kirito's collar bone, curling up almost like a cat. Her palm came to rest on his chest, fingers making slow, senseless patterns. It was Kirito's turn to tense, a pleasant tingling sensation running along his skin and to his spine.

"What's the matter?" she asked, smirking at Jack. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Now you two are just being attention whores," the man said in reply, coy smile having returned. But there was a subtle tension in his voice.

"And you're, what, a saint?" Kirito raised an eyebrow at him, but there was a subtle slyness in it as he lifted his right hand to play with Sinon's hair. "Takes one to know one, bub."

"So you're saying you _want_ my attention? Kiri-chan, I'm flattered."

For a split second, Kirito broke character, staring at Jack and seriously considering whether or not he needed to go throw up somewhere.

" _Kiri-chan?!"_

Still laying on his chest, Sinon was struggling between laughing, staying in character, and kicking Tugger between the legs because there was no way she was just going to let that slide.

Luckily for them (or not so lucky), the announcements came on.

" **Contestants, that concludes the Bullet of Bullets final rounds. Congratulations to those who qualify for the Battle Royale, further instructions have been sent to your inbox."**

A few seconds passed when the telltale _ring_ sounded and notifications appeared in front of several players. Kirito and Sinon briefly glanced at theirs, then flicked back up to Jack. An orange light blipped in front of him too. Seeing their gazes, he smirked. He swiped his hand, making a show of opening his menu and accessing his inbox. After taking a second to read it (probably faking it), he looked back to the two in front of him.

"Looks like I'll be seeing you ladies at the Battle Royale." He winked, and Kirito felt a shudder go up his spine as those eyes fell on him. "Hope you'll be prepared."

Without another word, he sauntered away, leaving Sinon and Kirito still on the floor, staring after him.

"Dammit. Almost had him," Sinon muttered, eyes narrowed as their least favorite "associate" left.

"Yep. So close," Kirito replied idly, though he was starting to squirm a bit as he eyed the way Sinon was still laying on him like it was her business. "You know you can get off me now, right?"

The sniper turned to him, indigo eyes meeting his without shame. She smirked, leaning a bit closer. "You want me to get off?" she asked, voice low so only he could hear. "I thought you liked me in these kinds of positions."

Kirito's eyes widened, face turning red almost instantly. "S-Sinon!"

The girl burst into laughter, finally sitting up as her voice filled the room, drawing some attention. But she didn't seem to notice yet, finally moving off of Kirito and offering him a hand. "I was just kidding, calm down."

"Yeah. Well," Kirito muttered, but trailed off with nothing much to say. Sinon pulled him up and continued to smile.

"Oh, lighten up," she said, nudging him lightly with her elbow. "Today was a good day, ignoring Tugger. We got through preliminaries and managed to dig under that scumbag's skin a little."

"...True."

Smirking, Sinon took her husband's arm, looping hers around it so that she stuck close to his side. "See? Now come on, Kiri-chan, let's go get ready for tomorrow."

Kirito blanched. "Please don't."

"It was funny and you know it."

"It really wasn't, it made me want to throw up."

"Well, I think it's cute," Sinon stated as she began leading him to the exit. "Maybe I should start using it. It might be a good pet name. Especially for role-playing."

Kirito's head quickly turned to face her, his ears reddening again. He really wished she would stop with all the unexpected innuendos or else she would kill him for sure.

Seeing his face, Sinon laughed, and she nonchalantly walked them out of the building.

* * *

 _The next day._

Asuna sat on the couch in the log cabin, watching the TV screen and waiting for the others to log in and join her. Meanwhile, Yui plopped down on her head.

"Don't worry, Mama! I'm sure Papa will be fine. He and Auntie Sinon are practically unstoppable!"

"I know, Yui, that's not what worries me," she said with a hint of sadness, looking up at her daughter. "I just worry because they had a really heated, rather public argument. I hope they're doing okay…"

She trailed off. Yui simply smiled.

"I GOT THE POPCORN!"

In busted Lisbeth with multiple bags of what passed as popcorn in this world. Leafa walked behind her, closely followed by the rest of their friends.

"Jeez, Liz, keep it down. You probably gave poor Asuna a heart attack," the Sylph chastised, glancing at the Undine, who was arguably currently as pale as the signature Undine attire she had equipped.

"Yeah, I definitely lost a few HP, as well as about a month off my actual life span," Asuna managed once her heart resumed its normal pace. Leafa simply gave her a pitying look.

"Sorry," Liz apologized, sounding sincere, "but I'm just so excited to see how the newlyweds do!"

"They're not newlyweds anymore," Agil cut in. "They've been married for nearly seven months now."

"Yeah, but Shino sure acts like they're newlyweds at work," Mizumi interjected. "Every time I try to get her to talk about their life together, she just blushes and clams up. Of course, it might have something to do with the questions. 'Does he screw your brains out nightly, or is it more of a weekly thing? What kind of kinky stuff do you get up to? How big is his-?'" It was at this point that Klein deigned to place his hand over the woman's mouth before she said too much, though judging by the shocked, disgusted, and some curious looks on everyone else's faces, she already had. Asuna looked especially uncomfortable.

"I think that's enough of- ugh!" he said right before withdrawing his hand from Mizumi's mouth. "Did you just lick my hand?!" he waved it vigorously as if trying to get slime off of it, to which she just pouted.

"And here I thought men enjoyed having their girlfriends drool all over them." She then winked flirtatiously, causing Klein to freeze up and simply blush, and everyone else to laugh at his expense.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up," he commented. "At least I HAVE a committed relationship." That caused them all to shut up. Asuna, sensing the awkwardness that had suddenly arisen, turned her attention to the TV, which was showing the roster for the battle royale, as well as the two commentators.

"Well, Zach, today promises to be a rather eventful battle royale. I mean, look at this roster." The image zoomed in on several names and highlighted them. "We have some MAJOR heavy hitters today. There's Sajiro, the hi-tech samurai who was the runner-up in the 8th BoB." When they said the name, the camera cut to a live feed, showing the contestant in question. Sajiro was seen meditating inside one of the locker rooms.

"Indeed, Saika, and we also have the current crowd favorite, Jack Tugger."

Asuna's stomach tightened. Sinon and Kirito had told the others about Tugger's remarks. Needless to say, none of them were pleased. The feed cut to Jack hitting on some woman that seemed to be falling for his bull. Liz snorted.

"Look at that asshat."

Asuna covered Yui's ears. "Liz! Language!"

"Well, we were all thinking it," she lamely tried to justify. She was met with only a glare.

"And of course we have the powerhouse couple," Saika continued. "Sinon and Kirito, the only two players to have not only won three BoBs, but won them consecutively." The feed cut to the two standing side-by-side in the bar, looking at the betting board, smiling.

"Well they certainly seem to have gotten over their rather _heated_ argument yesterday," remarked Zach. "For those of you that missed it, here is some footage of the couple that took place immediately after the preliminaries." The feed then cut to clips of Sinon and Kirito's fight, as well as Kirito's betrayal that led up to it, all recorded by security cameras. Asuna had, of course, seen it that evening on MMO Stream, but the others hadn't. They all gasped.

"What the hell?"

"What was he thinking?"

"How could he do that?"

"Sinon may have overreacted a little bit." Klein tried to defend his buddy among the many protests of the girls.

"She literally got _stabbed in the back_ by her own husband," Mizumi argued. "If anything, she _under-_ reacted."

Ironically, Asuna agreed with all of them. She hoped they were okay...

* * *

While walking to the governor's office, Sinon and Kirito noticed there weren't any cameras around them anymore.

"So," Sinon said, filling their companionable silence for the moment. "You never did tell me how you and Asuna broke up. Why is that?"

Kirito blinked, turning to face her after a beat of silence. "Why are you suddenly asking?"

She shrugged, not looking at him. "Well I didn't at first because I didn't want to nose around where I wasn't wanted. But now you two have made up and, well, I'm curious, to be honest. Plus, coming back to the BoB made me start reminiscing about our relationship over the years… And Asuna's actually an important influence in that. I guess I want the full story."

"...That's fair," the swordsman admitted. "Well… it was kinda bad. Like, really bad." He sighed. "She… didn't take it too well at first…"

* * *

" _I… I don't understand." Asuna was blinking at him, chestnut eyes shining unusually in the light from the window. "What-what do you mean 'it's not working'?"_

 _Kazuto swallowed, steeling himself for what needed to be done and glanced away. "It's just… we're not working anymore, Asuna. I'm sorry."_

" _...I don't understand," she whispered again, voice quiet and wavering. She inched closer to him on the couch, and Kazuto was careful to keep in his little bubble. "We've been so happy, w-we've been together for so long… Why are you suddenly saying these things?"_

 _Her voice was tight, threatening to break as it rose in pitch._

 _In Kazuto's lap, his hands tightened together. "I'm sorry."_

" _Don't just say that! Use words!" Suddenly Asuna was standing up, anger and panic flaring across her face. "Did, did I do something wrong?! Just tell me what it is and I'll fix it!"_

 _Kazuto stared up at her, eyes wide. He could feel the cold anxiety and dread flood through him, locking up his joints and leaving him paralyzed. This was the part he was most terrified to face. Social confrontation was never something he handled well and he_ hated that.

" _N-no. Asuna, that's not-"_

" _Is it sex?!" The girl screamed abruptly, making Kazuto's eyes blow out wider. "If that's what it is then I'll do it, okay?!"_

" _No!" Kazuto shot up, looking horrified. "Asuna, that's not-that's never been the problem, I swear!"_

 _But she wasn't listening, her hands were desperately, shakily, unbuttoning her shirt. "If-if that's it, that's fine! Let's just do it right now!"_

" _Asuna!"_

 _Kazuto finally found it in himself to raise his voice. He caught her hands, pulling them away from her chest. She merely stared at him, doe-eyed, a tear gently rolling down her cheek. It only made him feel guilty, like a horrible person because he had driven her to this and he was such fucking scum. If only he was better at this then he wouldn't be making her cry, making her panic and feel desperate enough to do something like_ this _._

" _Asuna," he started again, voice firm. "It's never been about sex and it's never been about something you did. I just… I'm not… in love with you. Anymore."_

 _For a long moment, Asuna merely stared at him. Her makeup was starting to run._

" _What… what do you mean?"_

 _Slowly, Kazuto pulled his hands away from hers, and her arms fell limply at her sides. It took him a while, because the words were stuck in his throat, but he finally managed to shove them out:_

" _I don't feel the same way about you anymore… I'm sorry."_

 _There was a soft_ thud _as Asuna fell to the floor, sitting back on her knees in a harsh silence. Her eyes were glassy, her expression lost as she stared at nothing. It broke Kazuto's heart to see her that way when he had always known her as that strong, independent fighter from the old days. It just showed how much she loved him, how invested she was, and it made him feel like utter crap for doing this to her but_ he _needed it and it would be worse to make her live a lie._

 _For a split second, he considered kneeling next to her on the floor and pulling her to his chest to soothe the pain away, apologize for everything he said and tell her he had been lying, that it was a joke. But he instantly pushed that all away. He still cared for her, regardless of what was happening, and still wanted her to be happy… but things were better this way._

 _Slowly, he backed out of the room, eyes glued to the girl whose heart he was breaking._

" _I'm sorry."_

 _Then he ripped his gaze away and fled, tearing his jacket down from the coat rack and shoving his feet into his converse before speeding out the door. He made a beeline for his motorcycle, clumsily slipping his jacket on one arm as he sat down and kickstarted the engine. He wiped hastily at his eyes before he started driving._

 _He had to stop three blocks down because he couldn't see past the tears._

* * *

Sinon looked at him with wide eyes.

"Oh god… I had no idea…" She looked down, watching their feet as they walked slowly toward the city.

"Yeah… she was devastated." Kirito was quiet as he spoke, obviously still affected by that memory. "After all we had been through together, we both assumed that we were going to be together forever, like it was destiny… that's why it was really hard… I didn't want to hurt her, but I guess that was inevitable, I had to do it... If only I was good at actually _talking,_ things would have gone better. She wouldn't have blamed herself for something that had never been her fault."

With sympathy, Sinon glanced over at her companion. No, her _husband_. A dark anger swirled in his eyes as he glared at his feet. Self-hatred.

"While I agree you're not the best at that sort of thing, you did your best considering the circumstances." The sniper tried to send him a small smile. "That breakup was hard, and it hurt both of you, but you did what was best and it led to a happier life."

Kirito smiled slightly. "Sometimes I worry."

Sinon stopped short. "About what?" she prompted, her voice steady to hide her uncertainty. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer to that question.

"If I really did 'what was best'. As in, did I do it in the right way," he answered, stopping a little bit ahead of her, and instantly Sinon let out the breath clawing at her lungs. " _Why would he be having second thoughts?"_ she asked herself scoldingly. " _He's told me multiple times he's totally committed to me."_

"Well… I don't think there really is a 'right way'." She drew even with him again as she spoke. "There's just 'the best way' and you did that."

Kirito let out a long sigh. He took Sinon's hand, raising it to his lips to kiss before letting their joined hands dangle comfortably between them. "You always know what to say. You're so wise."

"Well I _am_ a woman and I _am_ your wife. By definition, I'm always right."

"That's sexist."

"Well this is a sexist world, Kiri-chan. The only way to survive is fighting fire with fire."

"I told you not to call me that!"

Sinon chuckled. "It cheered you up, didn't it?"

Kirito groaned, making the sniper laugh again, and then they returned to their companionable silence once again, hands still entwined.

* * *

They saw the building before the rest of the city and immediately knew to head for it. Having been on several missions in this game together, Kirito knew his wife preferred the high ground. On the way there, they talked strategy.

"So, you stay in the skyscraper and pick them off from up high and I stay on the ground floor to finish off any stragglers you might miss?" Kirito reiterated.

"Exactly. I'll try to let some through, though. I can't have all the fun after all." Sinon winked at him, and Kirito rolled his eyes.

"Just remember, Tugger is mine," he said darkly.

"Oh no he's not. He's harassed me WAY more than you."

"He SHOT me! That has to count as harassment!"

"Not in this game it doesn't. Besides, I already avenged your death," she replied nonchalantly.

"By defiling his corpse?"

"Yes." Sinon blushed, appreciating how he left out WHY she defiled Tugger's corpse. And her momentary weakness afterwards.

By the time they reached the tower, it was time for the satellite to go overhead, so they pulled up the map to see where everyone was. Several people had already been eliminated, though that still left them with quite a few contestants, including themselves, Tugger, and Sajiro, though Sajiro seemed to be locking blades with someone who liked to call themselves (quite presumptuously, Kirito thought) Shiroyama. Sinon spoke his thoughts.

"Isn't Shiroyama the name of a major samurai?" Kirito snorted a little.

"Yeah, he was THE samurai. When the way of the samurai was in decline and the imperial army was trying to wipe them out, he led about 500 other samurai on a 'last stand' of sorts. It's said he was the very last to fall, and even then it took nearly a dozen men to bring him down." Kirito recounted the legend that he had been obsessed with in childhood.

"Meanwhile, this joker just got his ass handed to him by Sajiro." They watched as the name "Shiroyama" suddenly became crossed out.

"Hmph. Serves him right. It's considered bad luck to take on the name of a deadman," Kirito chuckled derisively. "Probably made a rookie mistake and let the enemy get the high ground."

"I can think of several people who would argue that makes no difference," Sinon added sarcastically as they made their way through the lobby of the building and slowly began the ascent to the top floor.

"Like who?"

"Anakin Skywalker."

"Yeah and THAT turned out SO well…" came the sarcastic reply. They both shared a laugh.

"All right, I might as well head back down." Kirito leaned in and gave Sinon a light peck on the cheek. "Try to leave some for me, okay dear?" He winked.

Sinon huffed in faux-annoyance.

"If I must." She smiled. "If I see Sajiro, he's all yours."

And so it went for the next 30 minutes or so. Sinon would snipe anyone stupid enough to enter her sights, and Kirito would take care of anyone who thought they were smart to sneak around her. You'd think the rather large amount of bodies spread throughout the lobby would tip them off.

Finally, the time came. It was down to the four, and Sinon joined Kirito in the lobby, but not before almost tripping over the body next to the stairs.

"Dammit Kirito, can't you keep ANY space you have to yourself clean?"

The swordsman in question seemed rather relaxed behind the reception desk, reclined with his feet propped on the counter. He cracked an eyelid and smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I remember the state of your room before I got my hands on it. I found crusty _underwear_ for godsakes. _That you forgot existed_. By your own admission."

Kirito grimaced as he let his feet down. "I was kinda hoping you forgot that little tidbit…"

"How could I possibly forget that _stench?!_ " Kirito swore he saw her eye twitch slightly.

"So you two really _do_ know each other irl," came a calm voice.

"JESUS CHRIST!" Sinon reacted quickly, trying to pump the supposed location of the voice full of lead from her glock.

No such luck.

"Hey, Sajiro. Nice STH (stealth) stat you got there. I _almost_ didn't notice you," Kirito said nonchalantly, absently pulling on his gloves from his seat.

Said samurai chuckled.

"Well, Sun Tzu did say to be formless, to the point where you and the shadows become as one."

"Oh god, not another battle-obsessed idiot," Sinon whined. "I'm already married to one…"

Sajiro chuckled again. "Well, irl, I'm a war strategist. So I guess you could say I'm a bit battle-obsessed."

Sinon just walked over to Kirito and slumped sideways into his lap as she had many a time when she was exhausted, arms circling his neck.

"Nooooo…" was all she managed before Sajiro delivered the bad news.

"Tugger will be here soon, and he looked smug as ever."

Sinon huffed. "Great, just what I need right now: sexual harassment." She sighed. "Let's get this bullshit over with."

She stood up and stretched. Kirito enjoyed the very nice view of her… hips.

"So what's the plan?" he asked, trying desperately not to sound as distracted as he was.

"Assuming Tugger doesn't shoot first, we talk to him. THEN blow his brains out."

"With bullets," Sajiro added.

"Dear god, I would hope so," Kirito muttered.

"Well, here's hoping," came an unwelcome voice. All heads turned toward the entrance, Kirito standing from his chair.

There, stood confident as ever, was the man all three of them hated, and two loathed.

"What, no hug?" Tugger looked them over, smirking slightly, eyebrows raised. "I'm hurt."

"Cut the bullshit." Sinon was the first to acknowledge him, meeting him with a hard glare.

"Hey babe, figured you missed me." Tugger winked and shot a finger gun at Sinon, the reply to which was an eye roll and a disgusted sound. "And I'm sure YOU missed me too, Kiri-chan." He walked over to Kirito and slung his arm around "her" shoulders. It took everything in Sinon's body not to kill him right then and there. Kirito, meanwhile, cut his eyes at him in a side glare, hand twitching by the sword on his belt. Then Tugger noticed Sajiro. "Who's the rube?" He asked derisively.

"A far better man than you." Kirito replied flatly.

Tugger opened his mouth to respond, likely with a coy statement, before Kirito stopped him. With his thumb and forefinger, Kirito pulled Tugger's arm from around his shoulder by the sleeve, grimacing as he moved out of reach and dropped it. Then, using his girliest falsetto yet as he faced him, he said "And before you try to hit on me again, I want you to know _one thing_." He dropped as many registers as possible, and said in as manly a voice as he could muster, "I'm a guy."

The silence throughout almost every game world was deafening.

Then a chuckle. A giggle and then full blown laughter, all supplied by Sajiro.

" _Oh man, I knew it!_ There's no way a girl moves like you do!" He wiped the traces of tears from his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sinon asked, sounding offended.

"He protects his 'bits' too much. Most swordswomen I encounter don't protect their legs so fervently. They're willing to take a few licks on their legs if it means an opening for them."

Sinon sighed. "You swordsman and your uncanny ability to pick up stuff like that…"

Tugger however looked mortified.

"There's no way. You're just screwing with me… I _hit_ on you…"

"You did a bit more than that, you practically propositioned me," Kirito added a bit loudly, noticing a camera on them out of the corner of his eye.

Tugger took a step towards the trio, looking absolutely furious, only to find himself looking down the barrel of Hecate II and two laser swords.

"Not one step closer," Sinon growled.

"I just wanted a word with your… husband," Jack said smoothly. Far too smoothly for an angry man.

"Not happening," Sajiro replied.

Tugger snapped. He grabbed the barrel of Hecate and pushed it hard to the side, throwing the sniper off-balance. He withdrew a knife from somewhere. Several thoughts went through everyone's heads.

" _SHIT SHIT SHIT!"_ was Sinon's only thought.

" _Where the hell did he get that knife?!"_ Kirito screamed inside his own head.

" _A stiletto dagger. The knife of an assassin. Perfect for a man without honor,"_ was the surprisingly calm thought of Sajiro, remembering how a knife from behind just after a rather intense battle cost him the top spot in the 8th BoB.

"DIE YOU BASTARD!" Tugger screamed as the dagger headed straight for Kirito's ribs, who didn't have time to react.

Luckily he didn't need to.

Sajiro quickly pushed Kirito away, bringing his own laser katana down on the idiot's hand, cleanly separating it at the wrist.

"Behold, the fate that befalls thieves," he spat bitterly.

* * *

"Yeah! Go Sajiro!" Shouted Klein from his spot on the couch, breaking everyone from the trance the TV had on them, to the point where they actually jumped at his exclamation. This earned him a light glare from everyone, including his girlfriend. "What?"

"We're supposed to be rooting for my partner and her husband." Mizumi slapped him upside the head before crossing her arms sternly. "Not having a boner over someone we don't even know."

"I can't help it. As a fellow samurai, I gotta support my bushido bro."

Liz facepalmed. "You did not just refer to him as your 'bushido bro'." She sounded like she was physically restraining herself from hitting him.

"Um…" he desperately tried to backpedal. "Recon, help me out here, dude!"

Said fairy looked surprised at being included in this conversation, but before he could even get anything out, one look from Leafa silenced him. He shook his head quickly. Mizumi laughed.

"Just give it up," Liz called. "'Bushido bros' will not become a thing."

Klein groaned.

"Shhhh, something's happening!" Asuna hissed.

* * *

"AUGH! You asshole!" Tugger clutched at his stump, which was now spilling red pixels into the air.

Sajiro simply kicked him to his back and pointed his sword at him, looking at the man as though he were shit to be scraped from his boot.

"Stay there," he commanded darkly. The tone sent shivers down the backs of all who heard it.

"So," said Sinon, the one person brave enough to approach. "What did you mean by thief? I mean, granted, I doubt he's above it, but how? This game has massive penalties for stealing anything, let alone from another player."

"He didn't steal directly, no," came the angry reply, Sajiro refusing to look away from the subject of his ire. "But he did steal the top spot in the 8th BoB by using underhanded tactics. He would find people engaged in a firefight and wait for them finish the other off. Then, before they even have a chance to catch their breath, he would strike. For me, he used that same stiletto. But for others, he would use any means necessary: sniping, running them over with one of the mounts, dropping a ton of rocks on them. It didn't matter to the man how, he killed them all unfairly. If he hadn't resorted to such bullshit tactics, I doubt he would have broken the top ten."

Both looked at Sajiro with horror as he recounted his tale, then Tugger with nothing but fury. Both held the sanctity of the BoB to determine the best in high regard. To have it besmirched like this angered them both.

"There are no rules against what I did!" Tugger shouted indignantly. "Why can't you people understand that?!"

"IT'S ABOUT THE SPORTSMANSHIP!" Sajiro shouted, moving his sword closer to Tugger's throat, causing his scruff to singe slightly.

"Sajiro…" Kirito approached the samurai. "Let him up."

Sajiro looked furious, but relented after seeing the hard look in Kirito's eyes. He sheathed his sword, and Tugger slowly climbed to his feet, glaring at everyone.

"I didn't break any rules," he repeated.

"No, you violated the spirit of this competition," Kirito said, somewhat sadly.

"FUCK YOU! YOU DON'T GET TO TALK DOWN TO ME! _I'M_ THE REIGNING CHAMPION! NOT YOU!"

At his last word, Tugger pulled out a .22 caliber pistol, only to find himself looking at his own feet.

Kirito deactivated his sword, looking at the headless corpse of Jack Tugger with a mixture of anger and pity. It dropped to its knees, then to its stomach unceremoniously.

 **DEAD.**

A long pause ensued, the remaining three players staring down at the corpse apathetically. Then Sajiro spoke up.

"So, if you two are so against underhanded tactics, then why..?" He trailed off, not quite sure how to finish. But the two knew what he was referring to.

"It was an act," they both replied simultaneously. Sajiro stared.

"What?"

"Yeah, we wanted to rattle Tugger's cage some so we decided to put on a play. Guess it worked, judging by how much MMO Stream talked it up." Sinon chuckled. "There's no way Kirito has it in him to betray anyone, let alone me."

"Hey!" said husband protested.

"You were too scared to kill the spider in the shower this morning. _I_ was the one who had to put it outside," she reminded him. He simply pouted. Sajiro watched the back-and-forth between the couple when he burst out laughing. The two turned from their "quarrel" and looked at him like he'd lost his marbles. He finally calmed enough to explain.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just really easy to see you two love each other."

The couple in question blushed.

"So anyway, how do you want to finish off this Battle Royale?"

"Well…" Kirito started, looking pensive. "The three of us should try for a 3-2-1 victory, that way Tugger gets nothing. It's the least he deserves." His face took on a dark look before nearly instantly cheering up. "How about a duel to end all duels Sajiro? Swordmaster vs swordmaster? Winner fights Sinon," he proposed. Sinon nodded her head, silently showing her approval of the plan. Sajiro looked at the two of them again, and smiled.

"Good idea. After all, there's no way I could fight both of you together. Though can we maybe go somewhere else? This place is getting a little…" he looked around at the multiple dead bodies, including the headless Tugger. "Too corpse-y."

The couple nodded as well, looking around at the devastation Kirito's laser sword had wrought. All three then headed outside.

* * *

Everyone was literally on the edge of their seats in the cabin. Well, except Liz, who was in the kitchen making more popcorn, but was mesmerized by the spectacle on the tv nonetheless. In the middle of the screen were the MMO Stream commentators, talking about this latest development. In one corner, they were running the old footage of the 8th BoB, with a specific focus on Tugger. And boy was he really playing dirty. Sniping a victor just after winning a fight, causing a landslide to engulf a small town full of contestants, the list went on and on. And every single one of his tricks was running in a "highlight reel" in the upper left of the screen. The commentators were actually discussing whether to strip Tugger of his winner status, and if so, who to give it to. Meanwhile, in the upper right corner of the screen, the current BoB was going, though it just showed the three talking. But now they were walking out of the building and looking around.

" _Looking for the proper battlefield,"_ Asuna thought to herself.

Apparently they found it, because Kirito and Sajiro talked to each other and then shook hands, moving to opposite ends of their makeshift arena.

"Liz, hurry up you're gonna miss it!" came the call from Leafa. The Leprechaun promptly vaulted over the back of the couch and landed in her spot… spilling half her bowl of popcorn in the process.

"Ah! Dammit, Liz, that popcorn is hot!" Klein cried out, brushing the unwelcome debris from himself before receiving a glare from Asuna, who indicated the little girl who was currently glued to the screen.

"Sorry, it's just not everyday you get to see a battle between two men with such _amazing_ control of their swords." Lisbeth smirked impishly. "If you know what I mean."

Asuna looked agape. "Liz!" She actually smacked the girl on the back of her head. "Stop trying to corrupt my daughter!"

The Leprechaun had the decency to look a little ashamed.

"Shh! They're starting!" Klein hushed them as he leaned forward, looking as though he were focused entirely on the match.

* * *

Kirito and Sajiro started at opposite ends of their battleground, Kirito standing next to his wife, who held a single .55 cal bullet in her hand. Both had a determined look in their eye. The wasteland was silent, still even, as though it too was fixated with this battle. Sinon let the bullet drop. It hit the ground with a small _tink!_

And then a storm let loose.

Both swordsman were so fast the human eye couldn't see them. The only indication that any sort of battle was happening was the occasional sight and sound of the swords crossing as sparks flew in anger and the thunderous reply that screamed with the fury and giddiness at finding a worthy opponent. Then the two met in a bind in the middle.

"You upped your AGI stat," Kirito observed.

"Aww, you noticed! So you _do_ care!" Sajiro joked.

Both men pushed from the bind, but neither took more than a step away as each took to trying close-quarter strikes.

The resulting tussle was, once again, a blur of arms and swords as each swordsman tried to strike, was blocked, and defended themselves in a seemingly endless loop. The amount of sparks that flew from their swords would have set at least one of them alight were they in the real world.

Then both reared back for one final, last-ditch effort blow, which ended in yet another bind.

"Damn… you… really are… one of the best… swordsmen out there." Sajiro spoke in between rather heavy pants.

"Yeah… you're not… so bad… yourself," Kirito replied, equally out of breath. The hi-tech samurai smiled kindly at him.

"Sorry about this," he apologized sincerely.

Kirito blinked, but before he could ask what Sajiro was sorry for, he felt himself lose balance, his sword leaving his hand, and a sharp slash through his torso.

 **DEAD.**

* * *

The cabin was completely silent as everyone watched their friend fall to the ground, the **DEAD** indicator appearing above his corpse as it spewed red pixels from his gaping chest-wound. The camera turned to Sinon, who looked just as dumbfounded as they felt.

What Kirito didn't see, but everyone else did, was that during their last bind, Sajiro had planted his foot in between Kirito's and was able to shove with his shoulder just enough to knock him off balance. He then used his forward momentum to knock Kirito's sword out if his hand, and finally deliver the finishing blow.

"...Holy shit."

Lisbeth was the first to speak, but Asuna didn't bother scolding her for her language as she continued to stare at the screen in shock.

"That...that's amazing. The only other person I know who could beat Kirito was Yuuki."

" _Woo!_ That's what you get for underestimating a samurai! Go, Sajiro!"

Mizumi proceeded to raise her eyebrow at her boyfriend. She wasn't as familiar with the legend of "The Black Swordsman" as the rest of them, so she couldn't be as upset, but she was still impressed. "Are you seriously cheering for this Sajiro guy right now? I thought you and Kirito were friends?"

"Well, _of course we are._ Kirito's my best friend, but I mean, _come on._ Samurai aren't really taken as seriously in games anymore. I need this representation."

"So you would choose a win from someone you barely know over the win of your best friend?"

"Well…"

"While Klein's loyalties are questionable," Agil began, eyes fixated on the screen, "We have yet to see Sajiro and Sinon's battle."

"Ooo, Sajiro better watch out." Lisbeth bounced in her seat with a grin. "Sinon's _bound_ to be pissed at him now."

* * *

Sinon stared down at Kirito's body for a solid minute, eyes wide, before finally glancing up at Sajiro, who was smiling at his triumph, sword held down at his side.

"That was a tough battle. Almost thought I wouldn't beat him. He really is good, I'll give him that."

"Yeah... I haven't seen many people beat him in swordplay. I have to say… I'm impressed."

Sajiro smiled at her. "Coming from a three-time BoB champion, that means a lot."

In spite of being in the presence of her husband's corpse, Sinon smiled a little. After… well, after his last death, she had grown more accustomed to seeing it, the idea that it wasn't real more solidified in her mind.

"So," Sajiro began, one hand propped on his hip. "How should we do this? Are you going to snipe at me from there?"

Sinon pursed her lips, thinking. "Hmm. No, that's been done."

"Fair enough. Have anything in mind?"

"Well, considering you just killed my husband, I have a right to decide how this goes."

"Also fair."

She smiled. "I'm glad you think so. And I think I want this battle to be different. A surprise."

"To be perfectly honest, I'm not a big fan of surprises. But I'll let this one slide."

"Great." Hand reaching into a pouch on her belt, Sinon pulled out a gray sphere, smile resembling more of a smirk. "Because I want to start with this."

Without any warning, she pressed the button on top and tossed it, turning and sprinting back toward the nearest building. Seconds later, a thunderous _BOOM_ sounded behind her, but she didn't bother to stop and look back. She highly doubted throwing a grenade at somebody in plain sight would kill them. They'd have to be _extremely_ stupid.

Sinon felt the shockwave of the blast graze her, heat prickling at her back as it shoved her forward. She stumbled a bit, steps falling faster in a struggle to keep her footing. A bit of her HP was shaved off, but it didn't faze her as she bolted through shattered, glass double doors and dropped to slide behind a reception desk. This building was actually pretty similar to the one they had fought in earlier, but the layout was different with the desk opposite the front doors. Battling through it would be like running blind through a maze. But it wasn't impossible.

Immediately, Sinon pulled Hecate II from her back and propped it on the desk, crouching for cover as she put her eye to the scope.

The landscape was empty. The only thing the sniper could see was sand and buildings and a small cloud of dust from the explosion. She could have almost been fooled into thinking her opponent was dead, but there was no body and no notification. Besides, she had been exposed to Sajiro's skill level enough to be confident that he was still alive.

She took a slow breath. _Just aim at the dust._

For several long seconds, everything was quiet, the atmosphere practically solid with intensity. But Sinon remained calm, finger lightly resting on the trigger. She scanned as much of the landscape as she could through her scope, but no cyber-samurai appeared. That only served to set her nerves on edge, her teeth biting her inner lip.

 _Where the hell did he go?_

"Good effort!" she heard directly behind and to her right. Sinon quickly drew her bowie knife and tried to slash where she thought she heard the voice. No luck.

"Close," came the reply from seemingly everywhere in the room. Sinon looked around, her sniper's eyes searching for anything, a shape out of place, a shade of color that didn't quite fit. Like an artist, but with higher stakes. She smirked.

"Kirito wasn't lying. Your STH stat is really high. I thought samurai where all about face-to-face confrontation?" she said to the seemingly empty air.

"True. But I just so happen to dual-class as a ninja." Sinon heard him drop down behind her, and swung the knife, which was caught by the wrist. "Sorry," he whispered almost inaudibly before Sinon felt the laser katana pierce her abdomen.

 **DEAD.**

* * *

A/N: And that's the end of this arc. Finally. Next chapter will have to do with what happens after the BoB and we can move on to other things.


End file.
